


In Plain Sight

by SirCumference



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Accidental Cuddling, Alien Biology, Alien Cultural Differences, Alien Gender/Sexuality, Alien Sex, Alien/Human Relationships, Allura's not dead, Asexual Pidge | Katie Holt, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Bisexuality, Canon Compliant, Coming Out, Coming of Age, Cuban Lance (Voltron), Drinking & Talking, F/M, First Kiss, First Time, Fix-It of Sorts, Flashbacks, Fluff, Gay Keith (Voltron), Humor, Hunk (Voltron) is a Good Friend, Kosmo wants attention, Lance (Voltron) has a crush on Hunk, Lance (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, Lance (Voltron) is a bi disaster, Lance (Voltron)-centric, Light Angst, M/M, Making Out, Multi, Oblivious Lance (Voltron), POV Lance (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), Post-Canon, Pre-Canon, Sassy Pidge | Katie Holt, Sex Education, She just became a God, Slow Burn, bisexual veronica (voltron), eventual Klance, hangover quest, keith and lance bang
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-13
Updated: 2019-02-24
Packaged: 2019-10-09 06:12:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 54,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17401529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SirCumference/pseuds/SirCumference
Summary: This is a story about first times, missed opportunities, a summer fling, an agender alien named Teoravi, and an ex that ascended to god hood. Lance affectionately calls this the "long version" of his coming out story. It's pretty long, Keith warns. It only took him 23 years to figure it out.





	1. Jenny

**Author's Note:**

> Each chapter will be about a different "first time." Lance will need 5 first times before coming into himself, and subsequently coming out. He's going to take a little while but he'll get there, don't worry.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance was 14 when he met Jenny Shaybon. He also enrolled at the Garrison, made a new friend, mistook an angry boy for Jenny, met his childhood hero, and bothered his sister a whole lot.

The Garrison commissary was completely overrun with wide-eyed, lost first-years in crisp orange and white cadet uniforms. This was their first meal at the base, after four long hours of orientation. Lance was exhausted, and probably absorbed 20 percent of the information thrown at him that morning. But he was determined to turn the day around. Lunch was a prime opportunity to meet the people he would spend the next several years training with, the people who would become his future colleagues and friends. It had only been a couple days since he said goodbye to his family, and for the first time in his life, Lance felt alone and slightly terrified. He had already wasted a bunch of his sister Veronica’s time, checking in with her enough times to recognize a note of irritation in her voice the last time he visited her dorm. He’d better get to making friends stat, and now was as good a time as any.

He scanned the crowd for a familiar face. A few tables away, at the edge of the room, he spotted a tall, sturdy boy wearing an orange headband, whom he recognized from an ice-breaking exercise earlier in the morning. Lance beelined for the spot next to the boy, and plunked his tray down with an audible thud. The boy looked up at him and smiled. “Hey again,” Lance said, waving. “Hunk, right?”

“Hey, yeah!” Hunk replied, “And you’re… Lance, eh? Have a seat.” 

“Don’t mind if I do,” Lance shuffled onto the bench next to Hunk, keeping an inviting smile on his face. “Good first day?”

“Honestly man,” Hunk shifted his eyes around the room and leaned in a little closer, “I have no idea what’s going on. I barely remember anything Commander Iverson said during his opening speech.”

Lance hunched slightly and widened his eyes. “I know! Me too! I wouldn’t find my way back to the dorms from here if I tried. And I can’t remember the names of my courses, it’s all been… a lot.”

Hunk shifted his gaze downward. “Tell me about it. It’s all so different than back home. I’m not used to all this, y’know, rushing around and strict schedules and everything. I miss the beach.”

“No way! I also miss the beach!” Lance grinned. Hunk looked up and shot him a smile. “I grew up in Cárdenas, near Varadero. I’m seriously missing it right now.”

“We’ve been here four hours and you guys are already home sick,” said a voice coming from just over the boys’ heads. Lance and Hunk looked up to see a girl with short, tousled black hair and a choppy fringe. Lance immediately felt defensive and opened his mouth to retort, but she smiled and set her tray down on the table in front of them, easing his worries. 

“I can relate,” the girl continued, with a soft smile. “I’m Jenny… Jenny Shaybon” she reached a hand out to Lance. After a beat, he took her hand and shook it, relaxing a bit. Lance couldn’t help but notice how her dark bangs framed her friendly grey eyes, and how her hand was really soft. 

“Hey Jenny,” Lance said, his voice lowered one octave. “The name’s Lance Espinosa.” 

“Nice to meet you, Lance Espinosa,” Jenny said, grinning. She let go of his hand and turned to Hunk. “And nice to see you again, Hunk. Mind if I join you both?”

“Not at all!” Hunk replied. Lance learned that Hunk had met Jenny the day before, while getting settled into the dorms. As they continued talking about their morning and first impressions of the Garrison, Lance’s anxieties about being alone slowly dissipated. He grew more and more excited at the thought of making new connections with people, and really appreciated how open and friendly Jenny and Hunk were. He also appreciated that Jenny was really cute, and definitely his type. She kind of looked like an anime character, with her edgy haircut and striking eyes. Every time he found his gaze meeting hers, he felt a little warm and zoned out slightly. Overall, solid first lunch hour.

Lance spent the rest of the orientation day with Hunk and Jenny. After the final activity, which was a tour of the flight simulator rooms, Hunk and Lance said their goodbyes to Jenny and walked off towards the boys’ dorms. 

“Hey uhh, Jenny’s kind of cute,” Lance said, grinning at no one in particular. 

Hunk chuckled. “Yeah, she’s also the first girl you’ve talked to here, isn’t she?” 

“No, hey!” Lance stopped walking and abruptly turned towards Hunk, who was eyeing him with a shit eating grin on his face. “I talk to girls all the time!”

“Sure you do.” Hunk kept looking at him expectantly. Lance opened his mouth to retort but found himself at a momentary loss for words. 

“I don’t… Okay fine, the only girl I’ve talked to since I got here was my sister Veronica. Happy?” Lance looked at his feet. To his surprise, he felt a strong arm wrap rest around his shoulders and looked up to see Hunk, smiling sympathetically. 

“No worries man, we have plenty of time and plenty of girls to talk to here,” Hunk said. “I can put in a good word with Jenny for you, if you want.” 

“Uh, thanks man.” Lance said, returning a smile. He looked forward, the smile lingering on his face. Making a friend hadn’t been that hard after all. He could feel the warmth radiating from Hunk’s side, the comforting weight of his arm around his shoulders, and Lance didn’t feel so alone anymore. It was nice to feel rather close to someone. When Hunk removed his arm and continued walking, Lance felt a twinge of… something. Whatever it was, he ignored it and trotted forward, following his new friend to their rooms. 

The following day, Lance vowed to speak to Jenny again. 

He was walking through the hall outside the gymnasium, and spotted a crouched figure at a floor-level locker. Lance immediately recognized Jenny’s shaggy, raven-black hair and thanked his luck that he would run into her while wearing his athletic outfit. The garrison’s gym shirt and short combination was far more flattering than their stiff orange uniforms. He straightened his back, smirked, and walked towards her, mustering up as much confidence as he could. 

“Hey, Jenny!” he called, from only a few feet away. He stopped walking, expectantly, and waited for her reply. But she continued to dig through her locker as if she hadn’t heard Lance at all. “Jenny?”

She must not have heard him. Lance walked up to her, less confident now but still determined, and tapped her on the shoulder. “Hey, Jenny.”

Jenny slammed the locker door and quickly got up to face Lance. It was then that Lance realized that the person he had been trying to speak to was decidedly not Jenny Shaybon, but a very angry looking boy with shaggy black hair. 

“I’m not Jenny. You’re in my way.” The boy said, his violet eyes burning into Lance’s dangerously. 

“Uuuuuh,” Lance stammered, not knowing what to do. He had obviously angered this person, and Lance wasn’t good at handling angry people. They terrified him. “I, uh, wasn’t talking to you,” he said, looking away. 

The boy huffed and walked past Lance, bumping him hard with his shoulder and walking off without a look back. Lance’s gaze trailed after him, too stunned to react. 

During Phys. Ed., Lance learned that the boy’s name was Keith, or something. He didn’t seem to want to talk to anyone, and kept leaning against the gymnasium wall with his arms crossed while their instructor was speaking. _What a tool_ , Lance thought. He vowed to ignore Keith forever. 

That became difficult to accomplish once they began training. Keith was faster, more agile, and clearly better than Lance at most things they were doing. He was so good at things that Lance could barely take his eyes off him for the length of their entire gym period. _What an asshole_ , Lance thought. 

Their instructor ordered all the cadets to pair up and do sit ups, one partner performing the exercise while the other would hold down their feet and count the number of reps performed. Lance didn’t realize he was standing closest to Keith until their instructor pointed at them and told them to get started. Lance turned to Keith, who was already scowling at him. Lance scowled back. 

Lance got down on the ground wordlessly while Keith placed his hands on his feet and avoided looking him in the eye, favoring an empty spot on the floor instead. He did a round of sit ups, trying to get a good look at Keith’s face. When he wasn’t scowling, he didn’t look particularly menacing. Despite being clearly antisocial, he didn’t strike Lance as being an overtly mean person. Justy shy… maybe. They might have just started off on the wrong foot. After all, Lance did mistake him for a girl and stand in his way. It wasn’t his best, in terms of introductions. Maybe being paired up was his chance to set things right. 

Their instructor whistled and Keith mumbled the rep count while Lance jotted it down on his worksheet. They switched places. 

At the sound of the next whistle, Keith began very aggressive sit ups, subtly grunting occasionally as he raised himself off the floor. Lance watched Keith with intrigue. After a few moments, Keith looked him in the eye with his back on the floor and opened his mouth. “Stop doing that,” he said, raising himself for another sit up.

“Do-doing what?!” Lance stammered.

“Stop looking at me, it’s annoying,” Keith replied before falling silent once more, and continuing the exercise. Lance opened his mouth and widened his eyes, willing for some sort of witty retort where none came. He huffed and looked at the wall. 

At the next whistle, Lance realized he had lost count of how many sit ups Keith had completed. It didn’t seem to matter, since Keith was filling out his own worksheet anyway. Lance peered over and saw that Keith had performed more sit ups than he himself had done. _He probably cheated. What a dickhead_ , Lance thought. 

At the end of the period, Lance turned to Keith to say… something. Maybe give him his name, he wasn’t sure exactly what he wanted to do. He just felt that maybe he ought to give Keith a piece of his mind. Let him know that Lance Espinosa doesn’t take disrespect from anyone. 

“Bye,” Keith said, gazing downwards before abruptly walking out of the gym without raising his head. Lance allowed his gaze to trail after the boy and his stupid haircut, an odd feeling of warmth rising in his cheeks. Lance decided that feeling was anger, and huffed on his way to the lockers, his mind buzzing with clever retorts that would have worked really well in the moment had he thought of them.

It wasn’t until Lance was getting into bed that night that he realized he never ended up speaking to Jenny again.

. . .

Two weeks after their first day, Lance decided he and Hunk were overdue for some bonding time. They had been spending every lunch hour together, and saw each other during their flight simulation and theory courses. Lance was still spending his evenings relatively alone, however, since Veronica had officially banned him from visiting her in her dorm unless there was an “emergency”. She didn’t elaborate on what would constitute an “emergency,” so Lance decided he would give it a week and maybe go bother her again next Monday.

Lance wasn’t exactly getting along with his roommate, either. James seemed relatively normal, but didn’t approve of him sneaking out after lights out to explore the grounds, or when he listened to music really loud. He always used headphones, but James insisted he had really good hearing and it was distracting him from studying. Lance also didn’t understand how James was already constantly studying at what seemed to be every free moment. He didn’t see himself bonding with his roommate anytime soon. 

On Friday, as Hunk and Lance cleared their table after lunch, Lance decided he would pop the question. He felt almost… nervous? It was the first time he was asking someone to hang out outside of their normal schedules, so some first time jitters were perfectly understandable, he was sure. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves anyway.

“Hey man,” Lance said, avoiding eye contact. “I was wondering if you maybe wanted to watch a movie after class today… I downloaded a bunch of old 20th century space movies to my datapad.”

“Hey that sounds awesome!” Hunk replied, grinning. “That’d be super cool. I haven’t exactly been getting along with my roommate, he’s really quiet and ignores me. 

“Me too! My roommate is so annoying!” Lance said, a tad too loudly. He immediately noticed James a couple tables away shooting him a dirty look. _Oops_ , he cringed.

“Anyway,” Lance continued, “can I come to your room after study period? We can’t do it in my room ‘cause James hates me and he’ll say we’re making too much noise or something. 

“Sure! Come by right after?”

“Deal.” That hadn’t been so bad. Lance felt proud of himself. He had not only solidified a bond with his new friend, but he also found a reason to avoid interacting with James. Win win.

Lance did not go to Hunk’s room right after study period. 

Instead, he couldn’t decide what to wear and went looking for his sister to ask for advice. Lance used the fire escape to reach the girls’ dorms, and made sure the hallway was clear before sneaking over to Veronica’s room and tapping lightly on the door. 

“I’m not answering the door, Lance,” he heard his sister say, slightly muffled.

“Come oooon! It’s an emergency!” he whispered as loud as he possibly could. 

“Are you dying?!” Veronica shouted.

“... Yes?” He waited a few moments and pressed his ear to the door. He heard some shuffling, and the door opened very quickly as a hand grabbed his collar and pulled him inside, before the door slid shut behind him. Lance found himself sitting on the floor of the room, his sister standing directly above him, her arms crossed. She didn’t look pleased.

“I told you to stop sneaking into the girls’ dorms. My roommate thinks it’s creepy.”

“I’m not trying to be creepy! I just really need help asap!”

“Okay, fine,” Veronica moved over to her bed and sat down, her arms still crossed. She glared at her brother. “What do you need that’s so important?”

“I uh, I’m hanging out with a friend this evening and I don’t know what to wear.”

Veronica held her gaze on Lance, squinting slightly. She slowly raised an eyebrow. “You’re hanging out with… a friend?”

“Yeah, and I didn’t know if, like, do people hang out in their Garrison scrubs or do they wear normal clothes when they meet people?”

Veronica opened her mouth slightly, before shutting it into a smirk. She shook her head. 

“WHAT? Stop making fun of me! I’ve only been here two weeks, I don’t know what people-”

“ _Lance_.” Veronica interrupted. “Wear whatever makes you feel your best. If that means your casual clothes, then go for it. If she likes a guy in uniform, maybe keep your scrubs on.” 

“Huh? Who’s ‘she’?”

“Your friend?”

“My friend is Hunk, I eat lunch with him every day.”

“Oh,” Veronica raised her eyebrows. “Okay…” She beamed at him, looking almost… proud? This was weird. Veronica was never proud of him. 

“Are you making fun of me again?! Stop!”

“I’m not making fun of you, Lance!” She got up from the bed and joined him on the floor, sitting with crossed legs. Still smiling, she leaned in closer to her brother. “So… is he cute?”

Lance was confused. He looked at her, eyes widening slowly. 

“W-WHAT?” he stammered, finally. “Veronica, ew! You can’t date Hunk! You’re like, super old that’s so weird!”

Veronica leaned back quickly, shocked. 

“I uh… I don’t want to date your friend, Lance, I was just asking.”

“That’s so weird though, you can’t find my friends ‘cute,’ it’s like, illegal probably.” Lance crossed his arms and huffed. 

Veronica furrowed her brow and rolled her eyes. “Okay, Lance, I promise I won’t try to date your friends. Have fun with Hunk tonight.”

“You’re so weird sometimes, V, honestly.” Lance got up, shaking his head. He put his hand by the door’s release button and paused. “Byeloveyou,” he mumbled before heading out into the hall. 

Once Lance reached his room, he strung out several items of clothing on his bed. He really wanted to wear his favourite baseball tee, but he also wanted to wear his favourite jeans, which were also blue. He didn’t want to be too blue, because then he’d look like a cartoon character or something. 

After finally settling on some black jeans, his baseball tee and a grey hoodie, Lance grabbed his datapad to check the time. _Shit_. Study period had ended a while ago, and lights out was in an hour. He hoped Hunk wouldn’t mind him being late. 

Hunk did mind. 

“Hey Buddy! Uhh,” Hunk looked into the hallway nervously as Lance walked into his room. Lance noticed that he was already wearing his pyjamas. “I didn’t think you’d come so late, we probably don’t have enough time to finish the movie.”

“No worries, man!” Lance smiled, sitting down on Hunk’s bed. “I’ll just sneak back to my room whenever we finish, no sweat.”

“Won’t someone catch you, or something?”

“Who, me? No way.” Lance crossed his arms and shook his head, smiling confidently. “I sneak out all the time!”

Hunk’s eyes widened. “You… sneak out all the _time_? Lance, what if you get caught!”

“I won’t get caught, Hunk! Trust me! And I won’t snitch on you if I do.”

Hunk seemed to relax a bit. The boys fell into an easy rhythm of conversation as they settled in on Hunk’s bed with the lights off except for a small nightlight, their backs resting against the wall. Hunk’s roommate was fast asleep in his bed, wearing earplugs thankfully. Lance pulled up his datapad and browsed his collection of pirated old space movies. They settled on _2001: A Space Odyssey_ because Lance wasn’t sure he was ready to admit he was into cheesy, psychedelic flicks. He’d save _Barbarella_ for their sixth month of friendship. 

“Hey, did you end up talking to Jenny again?” Hunk asked Lance, his gaze focused on the screen. “I saw her earlier and mentioned that we were hanging out tonight.”

“Nope, haven’t really seen her around,” Lance admitted, his shoulders hunching slightly. He left out the part where he mistook Keith for Jenny. 

“Well… She told me to say hi to you from her, she hopes to see you soon.” Hearing this, Lance looked up at his friend, wide-eyed. Hunk grinned at his friend before looking back at the movie on Lance’s datapad. Lance smiled softly to himself. He was glad he had found Hunk.

The movie was very long, and the boys were getting sleepy. After two weeks, they were already used to the rigid Garrison schedule and regular bedtime at 2200 hours. They were both slowly shifting down on the wall until their heads were resting on Hunk’s pillows, their eyes struggling to stay open. At one point, Lance felt a weight rest on his head, and heard soft snores in his ear. Hunk had fallen asleep. 

Knowing his friend had finally caved, Lance accepted that he wouldn’t be able to hold out much longer. He let his heavy eyelids fall shut, his head resting softly on Hunk’s shoulder. The last thing he felt before drifting off was his datapad sliding off his leg and onto the bed next to him. 

. . .

Lance woke up disoriented. As he came to his senses, he realized his face was buried in the warm crook of Hunk’s neck, while his arm rested over his friend’s belly. He had been holding Hunk all night like a body pillow. His eyes snapped open and he sat straight up, his gaze daring around the room, blood rushing to his face. Hunk and his roommate seemed to be sleeping peacefully. Lance checked the time on his datapad and noted it was still quite early. 

Lance looked back at Hunk to make sure his friend hadn’t noticed him wake as he slowly got up from the bed. He paused in shock, however, when he realized that he had left some drool on the shoulder of Hunk’s pyjama shirt. _Shit shit shit shit_ , Lance muttered to himself as he made it out of Hunk’s room as quickly as possible, his heart pounding fast in his chest. 

He tried to focus on getting to his room as he snuck through the hall. He was rushing, though, which isn’t conducive to successful sneaking. As he rounded a corner, he came face to face with none other than his childhood hero Takashi Shirogane, a famed exploration pilot for the Garrison. Lance gagged a little. 

“Good morning, Cadet,” Junior Officer Shirogane said, a warm smile on his face. Lance’s brain was screaming as he stood frozen, his eyes unblinking. He did not expect to meet his idol like this, and if he hadn’t reached full panic mode before, he sure was now. 

“I uh… G-good morning, Junior Officer Shirogane,” Lance said finally, after a moment’s pause. He jolted his body upright and saluted the man in front of him after remembering where he was. 

“You can call me Shiro, we’re not in class right now, Cadet.” Shiro was still smiling. “What’s your name?”

Lance was pretty sure he might start hyperventilating any moment now. 

“Esp-Espinosa. My name is uh, Lance Espinosa.” He could almost feel his face melting. 

“You’re Veronica’s brother, eh?” Lance swallowed thickly, nodding. “Well, it’s a little early to be out and about. Why don’t you take the south hallway to your room? Iverson is having his coffee just around the corner, and you might not want to cross him at this hour.” 

Lance couldn’t believe his luck. He managed to force out a very uncomfortable and strained smile as he thanked Shiro and turned in the opposite direction. 

Once he reached his room, Lance flopped down on his bed and stared at the ceiling, trying to process everything that had happened since he woke up mere minutes ago. He couldn’t do it for long though, as he heard the sound of someone loudly clearing their throat. Lance raised his head and saw James sitting up in his bed, a thick textbook open on his crossed legs. 

“You weren’t here last night,” James said, an accusatory note in his voice. 

“No, I was not here last night,” Lance retorted, glaring. 

James looked down at the ground, and seemed to shift uncomfortably. “Y’know… I’m sorry if I annoyed you too much and you didn’t want to stay here.” Lance’s eyes widened as James looked up to meet them. He dropped his gaze downward once again. 

After a moment, Lance sat up. “I - No, James, that’s not why I wasn’t here. I was just watching a movie last night in my friend’s room and I fell asleep.” Lance paused, collecting his thoughts. “I’m sorry I called you annoying yesterday.” He felt terrible. He had only really complained about James loudly so that he and Hunk could bond over something. 

“Okay, well… You could bring your friends here sometimes if you want. Just let me know beforehand.”

Lance smiled slightly. He got the feeling that maybe James had been feeling as alone as he had.

Their conversation was interrupted by the buzzing of Lance’s phone. He took it out of his pocket and answered as James got up and grabbed a towel before leaving their room. It was a video call from Hunk. 

“Hey man! Just, uh, checking in to see if you got caught going back to your room.” 

“Hey man,” Lance said, suddenly remembering that he had drooled on Hunk’s shoulder the night before. 

“So, did you end up going back last night or did you stay over?”

“WHAT?!” Lance jolted upright, heat rising in his face. “Of course I went back to my room!”

“Woah, okay, that’s cool. I - uh, was just wondering cause you left your datapad here.”

“Oh,” Lance mumbled, his eyes wide. “Oops.”

“Anyway, I had fun last night! We should finish the movie soon.” Hunk grinned at him on his phone screen. “I’ll bring your datapad to the commissary at lunch.”

Lance thanked his friend and said goodbye before dropping his phone on the bed and falling back once again, his arm over his face. He had already had too much excitement for one morning, and desperately needed to calm down if he was going to have any hope of impressing Jenny Shaybon today. 

. . .

“It’s only three floors up!” Lance whispered loudly over his shoulder, racing up the fire escape. Jenny Shaybon followed him close behind, stifling laughter. At the next landing, she paused, trying to straighten her face and keep from making more noise. Lance stopped two steps above her and turned around, smiling. “You can laugh all you want when we get there, no one will hear us.”

“I know, I know, I just can’t believe Shirogane actually saw us and _winked_ at you, I didn’t realize he was so cool.”

“It wouldn’t be the first time he’s caught me sneaking out,” Lance replied, grinning. “He’s on our side, don’t worry. Now follow me so we don’t miss it!” He extended out a hand to Jenny. She looked up at him, smiled, and took his hand in hers. 

They reached a door on the top floor. “Isn’t it locked?” Jenny asked. 

“Nope, not really,” Lance replied. He pointed to a small piece of cloth jammed between the door and its frame. “I don’t think I’m the only one who comes up here.”

Lance opened pushed the door to the roof and removed the cloth. “After you,” he said, turning to Jenny and holding the door open. She shot him a soft smile and walked through, Lance following her. He gingerly placed the cloth back in the frame and shut the door slowly, taking care not to make any noise. 

As he suspected, the sunset was especially striking that night. He led Jenny closer to the edge of the roof, and felt her take his hand from behind. Lance turned to her and noticed that the sun made her hair look slightly red-tinted. Jenny shifted her gaze to Lance and turned to face him. “You were right, it is really pretty up here.”

Lance became very, very aware that Jenny’s gaze was lingering on his expectantly. He felt his stomach turn in on itself, and his head felt really, warm? But in a nice way? And Jenny was just there, looking really pretty right up at him and oh god what was he supposed to do right now? He should have asked Veronica about what to do once they were actually on the roof. He thought they would just talk, or something, but it looked like Jenny wanted to do something else. He opened his mouth but his breath caught in his throat as Jenny took a single step forward and looked down at his mouth, and then back up into his eyes. Lance took a deep breath, trying to calm the knot twisting in his belly. He softened his gaze as Jenny stood up on her toes and closed her eyes, pecking his lips softly before pulling back and looking at the ground, blushing. Or maybe she wasn’t blushing, maybe it was just the sun. 

_That wasn’t so scary_ , Lance thought, his gaze fixed on Jenny’s face. He took her hand and sat down on the graveled roof. She looked down at him, smiled, and did the same. Jenny shuffled closer to him and rested her head against his shoulder, his arm slowly wrapping around hers. 

“This is… nice,” Lance breathed after a moment. 

“It is. I’m glad you brought me here,” Jenny spoke, softly. She pulled her head off his shoulder, suddenly, and faced him once again. This time, Lance felt ready. He smiled at her and leaned in, as she did the same. Their lips met, his arm still around her shoulder, and they began tentatively at first, before adopting a smooth rhythm, taking breaks to inhale once in a while. 

After what was probably the most awesome minute or two of Lance’s life, he heard some distant shuffling and opened one eye out of curiosity. Back near the door, against the wall, two figures were pressed up against each other, their lips locked and their hands roaming freely. They were much more aggressive than Lance and Jenny, moving quicker and with greater confidence. The boy pressing his partner against the wall moved his head down to their neck, and Lance’s breath hitched in his throat as he recognized the head of messy black hair leaning back. Keith’s eyes were closed, his lips slightly parted, and he was sighing deeply as the other boy buried his face in the crook between his neck and collar bone. 

Lance suddenly felt very, _very_ , uncomfortable, as if he was intruding on a particularly intimate moment. He pulled back and looked at Jenny, who eyed him, startled. 

“I - uh, we’re not alone, Jenny,” he whispered. Jenny’s eyes shifted over to the door they had come from. Her eyes widened and she stifled a giggle. 

“Ohmygod is that Kogane and Melanson?” Jenny was grinning. She found this funny. Lance wanted to evacuate as quickly as possible. 

“We gotta go, Jenny, let’s give them some privacy.” Lance grabbed her hand and quietly led her to the door on the opposite side of the roof. 

. . .

“I hate him, Hunk! He’s always trying to one-up me!”

Lance was sprawled out on his bed, while Hunk was chuckling loudly in Lance’s desk chair. After a moment, Hunk collected himself and beamed at Lance.

“Buddy, you did it, though! You kissed Jenny, I didn’t think you’d have it in you.”

“Yeah, but he interrupted us! We could have waited for the sun to set and watched the stars, and I don’t know.” Lance pouted. _And he looked like he knew what he was doing more than I did. He had done that before_. Lance shook his head and sat up. 

“I’m proud of you, Lance!” Hunk was still smiling widely, incredibly sincere. Lance softened a little. “I’m sure next time you guys hang out, Keith won’t be around, don’t worry. And he probably didn’t even notice you were there.”

“He _definitely_ didn’t notice we were there,” Lance grumbled. His thoughts went back to Jenny, and Lance felt a sudden burst of pride. The corner of his mouth twitched upward. “It was really cool though, Jenny’s really fun.”

“Yeah, super cool, I bet! Good for you, man!” Hunk gave him a supportive slap on the back. Lance grinned at his friend. He wasn’t going to let Keith ruin this for him, not this time. 

. . .

Lance and Jenny hung out regularly for a few weeks. But it became more and more difficult to see each other as midterm season approached. Eventually, Jenny told him she didn’t have time to hang out anymore if she wanted to do well. Lance, understood, although he was always more of a study-in-a-panic-the-night-before kind of guy. It was cool though, he reasoned, he wanted to be with a girl who was more on his page, and who wanted to make time for him as much as he wanted to make time for her. Thankfully, he had Hunk to hang out with, and he and James were getting along better. They weren’t friends, per se, but his roommate had stopped bothering him and was cool with Hunk coming over whenever. 

Lance felt good though. He reveled in his experience, and was much more confident approaching girls now than before.

His first date with Jenny wouldn’t be the last time Lance brought a girl up to the Garrison’s roof. It would be the last time, however, that Lance would see Keith there. But even though he knew it was unlikely, Lance would always look back towards the door just to make sure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! This is my first fic ever, and I hope that at least one person reads it through and enjoys it. 
> 
> As someone who relates to Lance's character on a near-spiritual level, I felt betrayed by his treatment in S8. This fic is my attempt at giving Lance the sexuality arc, endgame romance, and supportive platonic relationships he deserved. It is also very self-indulgent. 
> 
> This story will be divided into 5 chapters, each dedicated to a different first time. The first few chapters will have more m/f romance and gay pining, while the last two chapters will be quite gay. The first two chapters are pre-canon, the third takes place during S8, and the last two will be post-canon. 
> 
> Hope you come along for the ride!


	2. Eva

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance is 17 and home for summer break. He misses the Garrison. He meets a girl from Brooklyn, and has some overdue bonding time with his childhood best friend.

“Look, I made these really cute half-moon pies with my auntie and it took forever because we made so many but they’re SO good, Lance, you have no idea. And these are panikeke, they’re these sweet banana fritters and they were my favourite thing when I was a kid. My mom used to promise to make them for me if I got good grades. OH and my sister made these -”

Lance grinned, admiring all the food platters Hunk was filming with his phone. It was Hunk’s mom’s birthday, and his entire family had gathered at their home in Pago Pago for a massive dinner party. Hunk had even invited Lance, but he couldn’t make it because he was at home in Cárdenas, which was basically on the other side of the world. Despite the time difference, though, Lance and Hunk spoke almost every day. Lance would usually call when he woke up, when Hunk was relaxing or cooking dinner with his family.

When he wasn’t catching up with Hunk, Lance spent most of his summer break with his family or his childhood friend Mateo, usually outside in the sun if it wasn’t too humid. It was really nice actually, and Lance almost didn’t miss the Garrison. Almost. For the most part, he was happy to spend time with his family, to hang out with Mateo. It was only at night, when Lance was alone in the room he used to share with his older brother Luis, that he missed the view of the stars from the roof of the Garrison. And his late night movies with Hunk. And flight class. Since Keith dropped out, Lance was able to get in to fighter class. He missed the feeling of being at the helm of a fake ship, running battle drills and simulations. His home was nice, but it lacked a lot of the things that defined what his life had become. 

“-so you end up removing the juice from the pineapple, and then you mix it with cornstarch and add it back into the filling so that it can get all thick in the oven. Once I forgot to do that and it was such a mess, Lance! There was juice everywhere but we ate them anyway because waste not, want not, amirite? Anyway, I’ll send you the recipe for paifala so you can make some!”

“Yeah, that’d be cool!” Lance grinned, before hearing three aggressive knocks on his bedroom door. “Uuuhh I think my sister is summoning me for beach day. Talk to you later?”

“Yeah, of course buddy!” Hunk smiled wide. “Good timing, too. I think Elei just got here. Have fun!”

Lance smiled back, thought it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “You too, have fun. Bye, Hunk.”

He ended the video call and stared at his phone. A part of him really wished he could be at Hunk’s, helping with the cooking and celebrating. It didn’t help that Hunk’s friend Elei was able to take part in the festivities in his stead. He sighed. _Only three more weeks and I’m back at the Garrison_ , he reminded himself.

“LANCE WE ARE LEAVING IN ONE MINUTE,” Veronica bellowed on the other side of the door. Lance rolled off his bed in a flash and scrambled to his feet. 

“I’M COMING, V, CALM DOWN!”

Lance grabbed a beach towel from his floor and stuffed it in his gym bag, before running out of his room.

The ride to Varadero beach was chaotic, as usual. Marco brought his new baby, who was bawling the entire ride while Veronica and Rachel argued about whether or not it was acceptable to eat cold leftovers. Lance stayed quiet, looking out the window at the passing scenery. Although he was looking forward to going back to school, he admitted that nothing was more beautiful to him than the beach at midday. He would miss it, and the memories that went along with it. He silently vowed to make a few more in the coming three weeks. 

. . .

If there was one thing he couldn’t do at school that he could do plenty of at home, it was tree rigging his aerial silks. There was an unfortunate lack of trees on the Garrison’s arid grounds, and an absence of good places to rig in general. Lance would settle for the ropes at the gymnasium during recreation time, but it wasn’t the same as practicing outdoors on the beach. 

Veronica secured a knot on the rig while Lance held the rope in place halfway up a slanted palm tree. She signaled that she was done and her brother pulled the rope up, tightening the rig around the trunk of the tree. He waited while his sister unbraided the silks. The moment she finished, he yelled at her to move as he carefully grabbed the silks and swung himself around, his feet locking on the strands of fabric. He slowly descended down the rope until he had enough distance to manoeuvre. Holding himself in place with his hands, he let go with his feet and flipped his legs up and over his head, settling in a pointed V. He turned his head towards Veronica and raised one eyebrow. 

“I hate that you got better than me,” Veronica said, arms crossed. “Not fair. It’s cause you’re a boy with natural upper body strength.”

“Hey, V, I worked for this!” Lance looked back at the silks, locking his feet back on, his body upside down. He extended one leg back and looked straight forward, bringing a pointed foot into his view. After a couple more minutes of tricks he climbed down the silks and handed them to his sister. “Good luck, hope you remember how to stay on.”

“You’re insufferable.” Veronica yanked the silks from her brother’s hands and started climbing up. 

Lance smirked as he watched her ascend, but was distracted by a tap at his shoulder. He turned around to see a teenage girl looking up at him, probably around his age. Her brown hair was windblown, hanging down to her collar bone. Her face was tanned and freckled. She smiled at him. 

“Hi, that was really cool. Can I try?” She looked at him expectantly. Lance flushed and smiled back. 

“S-sure.” He looked up at his sister, who was halfway up the silks, her legs tangled in them, and her face scrunched into a scowl. “Let’s give her a minute though.”

He turned to face the girl and extended a hand. “The name’s Lance,” he said, his voice lowering slightly. 

“Eva,” she replied, taking his hand and giving it a surprisingly firm shake. Her hand was a little rough, probably calloused. Lance wanted to know why, but didn’t want to ask about them directly. He had done that before with another girl one time, and it didn’t go over so well. 

“Do you do any aerial sports?” He asked casually, settling his hands on his hips. 

“No, not really. But I do a lot of climbing.” Lance raised an eyebrow. That explained the callouses.

“Mostly top rope and bouldering in gyms,” Eva continued. “I’ve tried outside a couple times, but I live in Brooklyn so there aren’t many outdoor places to go near home.” She was friendly, and she seemed really relaxed. 

“You know, I’ve seen a lot of people bouldering in this one spot near here, it’s like a short cliff that kinda hangs over the sea.”

“Really?!” Eva perked up. “That’s so cool, I haven’t seen anything like that yet.” 

“I can show you where it is, if you want,” Lance said, hopefully. Eva paused a moment, looking away and pursing her lips while she considered it. Suddenly, she looked back at Lance and grinned mischievously. 

“Let’s make a deal. You teach me some aerial silk stuff, and I’ll show you some bouldering. If I’m better at the silks than you are at bouldering, you get me ice cream.”

Lance flushed at her directness. After a moment, he grinned and raised an eyebrow. “And if I’m better at bouldering than you are at silks?”

“Then I treat you to something, your choice.” 

“I’d prefer _guava pastelitos_ ,” he replied. Eva paused a moment, her smile faltering slightly, before grinning again.

“I have no idea what that means. It’s a deal.” She offered Lance her hand once again, and they shook on it. “Seriously though, what’s a guava pasta-lito?”

“Uh, it’s ‘ _guava pas-te-li-to_ ’ and they’re puff pastries with a guava filling.” Eva raised her eyebrows, her eyes lingering on Lance’s. “Oh, uh, guava is a fruit that kinda tastes like pear and strawberry, but sometimes it’s more sour.” Eva chuckled.

“I know what guava is. I’m not a total white city kid, Lance.” 

He blushed hard at the sound of his own name, Eva’s tone hovering somewhere between mocking and affection. He took a deep breath, willing a retort, but couldn’t think of a decent one. Thankfully, Veronica interrupted at just the right second. She cleared her throat. 

“Your turn, lil’ bro.” She smirked, walking away from the silks. “I’m going back to the fam.” She turned towards Eva. “Make sure Lance doesn’t bust his back climbing, he can be clumsy around girls.”

Lance’s eyes bulged as his jaw dropped down. “VEE!”

“Later, buds.” Veronica waved and walked back towards the shore. 

Lance stood in place, mortified. Eva nudged his arm. 

“Wanna show me some basic tricks?” 

Lance looked back at her, trying to forget about his sister. “Sure. Try to keep up,” he said, grinning.

“I’m a fast learner,” Eva shot back, her head cocked to the side. Lance gulped and straightened his back, before heading for the silks. He climbed up slightly shakily at first, trying to calm his nerves, feeling Eva’s eyes burning into him. But once he settled halfway up, his nerves relaxed as he took on a familiar position. He locked his left leg on the silk, hung his body back by his arms at a 45 degree angle, tilted his head back and lifted his right leg into a split. He heard some light applause and looked down at Eva, who was clasping her hands together and smiling.

“I’ve never met a guy more flexible than me,” she quipped. Lance’s face felt very, very hot all of a sudden, the feeling spreading down his neck and onto his chest. He quickly hid his face and changed positions, trying desperately not to fall down. 

. . .

Lance spent the better part of the early afternoon teaching Eva a few basic aerial tricks low to the ground. He hovered under her, making sure she was safe, and holding the silks taught to help her balance. At one point, Eva faltered slightly and accidentally fell back into Lance, his hands catching her waist. A little while later, it happened again, on purpose. After she felt more comfortable, Eva wanted to try climbing higher. She shooed Lance away before gingerly making her way up the silks, all the way to the top where they hung from the tree. She climbed up onto the trunk of the palm tree and looked down at Lance, who wore a puzzled expression. 

“Sorry, I just really like climbing,” she called down at him. 

“Should we switch to bouldering, then?” Lance said back. Eva nodded, and climbed down the trunk of the palm before landing on the ground and walking back towards Lance.

“How did I do?” 

“Enh, I’ve seen better,” Lance shrugged. Eva grimaced and smacked him lightly on the arm. 

“Admit it, I did pretty good for a first timer.”

Lance paused a second, pouting and rubbing his arm dramatically. “Okay fine, I guess you sorta did a little bit.”

“I guess I did.” Eva grinned and sauntered off. Lance stood in one place, his gaze trailing after her. After a few steps, she spun around and looked back at Lance. “I don’t know where we’re going, you’re going to have to lead the way.”

Lance chuckled, and led her towards the shore.

. . .

Lance was pretty awful at bouldering. It bothered him at first. He couldn’t figure out where to put his hands, or his feet, and the incline of the cliff required much more core strength than he could muster. Eva was quite skilled, however. She tried to teach him how to shift his center of gravity to get it closer to the wall, and to use his legs more than his arms. A couple times though, she just wanted to show off, climbing all the way to the top of the 10-foot rock to wave at lance from the ledge. After working at it for a little bit, Lance relaxed. Eva may have been competitive, sure, but she was easygoing and encouraging. He liked being around her.

The cliff was positioned right over water, and Lance and Eva would frequently fall in when attempting to climb down. Eventually, their limbs ached and they opted to relax in the sea. While floating in the water, they began to talk for real. Eva spoke about her high school, where she studied arts and media. She wanted to study media production in college. She wanted to work in film or television. She had been climbing since she was 9. Her best friend was named Malina, and they liked watching old early 2000s cartoons together. Her parents were divorced, and she mostly lived with her mom and brother. She was in on vacation with them and her aunt. She would only be in Varadero for two more nights. 

Lance spoke about his big family, all his siblings, his niece, his parents and grandparents. He grew up in Cuba. His best friend here was Mateo, whom he met on the local soccer team. He had been doing aerial acrobatics since he was 11, when his sister Veronica decided she wanted to learn and he was forced to go with her because he had stopped playing soccer and his parents decided he needed to burn some energy. He took up swimming soon after, and kept practicing aerial silks to annoy Veronica, but also because he kind of liked it. He went to the Galaxy Garrison. He wanted to be a fighter pilot, like his hero Takashi Shirogane, who had gone missing on the Kerberos mission. He only got into fighter class because Keith Kogane dropped out of school. His best friend was Hunk, who was training to be an engineer. He liked the roof of the Garrison, he had made a lot of good memories there. After a moment’s hesitation, he told Eva he was sad she would only be in Varadero 2 more nights. 

Hearing this, she turned to him with a serious, yet sincere expression. Lance held her gaze, his feet treading lightly in the water. 

“Let’s make it count, then.” She smiled softly. 

“That’s pretty cheesy, Eva.” 

“Do you want me to leave right now, then?” her eyebrows furrowed in mock anger. Lance grinned for a split second, before bringing his face closer to hers, pausing after a moment. 

“Is this okay?”

“Very okay, Lance.” 

They kissed, slowly at first, then quicker and rougher, and after what could have been seconds or minutes or hours Lance was sitting on the shore in the cover of the cliff, Eva straddling his hips with her hands in his hair. He pressed his hands into her back and pulled her closer. She removed one hand from his hair and started reaching down and - 

“LANCE! WE’RE GOING HOME, ABUELA MADE FRIJOLES AND MADUROS AND THEY’RE GONNA GET COLD.”

Lance jerked back, his heart leaping in his chest, his face contorted into an expression of pure shock and anger. He made a noise that could probably most accurately be described as a squawk. Eva looked puzzled. 

“You should go join her,” she said after a moment. 

“I’M COMING, V!” he shouted over his shoulder, before turning back to Eva. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be, I had a great time.” She stopped, considering for a moment. “Some of the other kids at our hotel are having a beach bonfire tomorrow. You should come celebrate my last night here. Bring a friend, or your sister maybe. Some of the folks will be a bit older.” She smiled at him, her hand still resting on the back of his head. “Maybe we could find some guava pastelitos.”

“Sure, that sounds nice. I’ll try to bring my friend Mateo but I am probably going to kill Veronica before tomorrow night, so she can’t make it.”

Eva chuckled. “I’ll find you on messenger and send you the details. It’s Lance Espinosa, right?”

“Yes but my username is actually Lance Tailor, don’t ask.”

“LANCE I SWEAR I WILL COME DOWN THERE AND GET YOU MYSELF. I KNOW WHAT YOU’RE DOING AND IT’S GROSS BUT IT WON’T STOP ME.”

“SHUT IT, V, I’M COMING. JEEEEZ!”

. . . 

“I’ll drive you boys there and maybe I’ll stay a little but I’m going to go home early because I’m tired and I don’t want to see you eating that poor girl’s face. You’re gonna need to take a cab to get back.”

“Fiiiiiiine, V. You don’t even have to come, we can taxi both ways.”

“No, Lance, I want to come. I’m not missing out on an opportunity to meet handsome out of towners.”

“Gross.”

“Lance, I literally saw you making out with a girl yesterday and it was disgusting. I would never subject you to that because I love you and I have class.”

“WE WERE UNDER THE CLIFF! NO ONE COULD SEE!”

“You should have known I would come looking! You were gone for hours!”

Lance shot his sister a hard scowl and crossed his arms. Mateo raised an eyebrow. 

“So I guess the Garrison hasn’t changed your relationship at all,” he mocked.

“Actually, Lance and I are closer than ever. Aren’t we, hun?” Veronica shot her brother a sickeningly sweet smile. Lance looked away, mumbling something unintelligible. 

. . .

As soon as they arrived at the beach, Veronica walked off to mingle with the crowd surrounding the bonfire. The sun was just about set over the horizon. People were chatting, drinking, and smoking. Someone had brought over a boom box and was playing old gangster rap. Lance turned to Mateo and grinned. 

Lance left for the Garrison the Fall after he turned 14. Before that, he and Mateo had been inseparable. They would play outside for hours, forgetting to call their moms and getting yelled at for it. They would have weekly sleepovers, where they did more talking and laughing than sleeping. One time, they found a kitten on the side of a road and co-parented her for two weeks before Lance’s parents discovered her in his sock drawer. Mateo’s aunt had offered to adopt Rosquita after that, so she did end up going to a good home. 

Lance and Mateo had spent many days on Varadero beach. As they got older, they started spending more nights there as well. Sometimes they would play soccer with a mix of local kids and tourists. Sometimes Lance would try to show Mateo tricks on his aerial silk rig, but his friend was probably the worst dancer Lance had ever met in his life. Mateo had a knack for sports that involved power and speed, like soccer and rowing, but was abysmal at anything that required aesthetics and grace. They would mostly just end up toppling to the ground, laughing their asses off. 

Often, it was just the two of them on the beach. They swam, looked for animals to play with (Mateo had a gentle soul and a knack for bonding with random wildlife, like crabs and rats), built highly-fortified sand castles and talked past sundown. 

Lance remembered their last conversation on the beach before he left for the Garrison. Mateo had told him he would miss him, trying, unsuccessfully, to stifle some tears. After a moment’s hesitation, Lance put his arm around his friend and rested Mateo’s head on his shoulder. They sat in silence for a while, which was rare for them. But it was good. It was one of Lance’s favourite memories of Varadero beach.

Looking at his friend now, Lance felt the weight of how much time had passed. Mateo had outgrown him after years of being “the short one.” His shoulders had broadened from training for his school’s rowing team. His hair, that used to be shaggy and unkempt, was now buzzed into a neat crew cut. He was still a little quiet thought. He was always the more quiet of the two of them. Because they had spent so much time together, that hadn’t seemed important to Lance. They were still good friends, still able to speak their minds. But the walls Mateo seemed to put up became more evident as time went on, as he took up less and less space in Lance’s life. 

He and Mateo had had maybe three sleepovers since he got back for the summer, and they had been very different than the ones Lance remembered from years past. They still talked, of course, and they still laughed, but not until 5 am anymore. 

Lance was still grateful for the time they spent together, though. In a way, Mateo reminded him of who he was, and where he had come from. He had known him before the Garrison, before Keith dropped out and he got into fighter class, before Hunk, before his first kiss with Jenny Shaybon, before he wanted to be a pilot. Mateo knew him in a way no one else ever would, and he was thankful for that. Which is why he was psyched to party with him. They were overdue for some debaucherous bonding time. 

Lance swung his backpack over his shoulder and pulled two cans of Cristal out, handing one to his friend. Mateo grinned back at him and grabbed a can. The boys opened their beers in unison and cheersed, before chugging them in 20 seconds flat. After taking a moment to collect himself, Lance dug out two more cans, once again handing one to his friend. This time though, they took their time, drinking in slow sips. 

“So, where’s this girl you mentioned?” Mateo asked between sips.

“Probably somewhere here.” Lance looked around. “I’m not in a rush to find her though, I’m sure she’ll come up eventually.”

“What’s she look like?”

“She has like, brownish hair and a tan. She’s shorter than me.”

“Lance, that could literally be anyone here,” Mateo laughed.

“Okay fine, so I’m not great at descriptions. But she’s so cool, Mat, she’s from Brooklyn and she saw me doing silks and she said I was flexible. Then showed me how to climb this rock cliff thing and then we made out on the beach. I think she wanted to do more but then Veronica started yelling at me.”

Mateo scrunched up his face. “I don’t need the imagery, buddy.”

“Oh, ah - sorry man. Anyway like I said, I’m sure she’ll turn up. Let’s just chill for a bit.”

Lance and Mateo meandered through the crowd, investigating. At one point, Lance saw his sister talking to a tall, muscular guy who looked _very invested_ in their conversation. He gagged a little. 

Eventually, they made their way over to where some folks were playing horseshoes. Mateo and Lance joined for a round, chatting with some college-age American guys. After they finished their game, Lance heard a familiar voice call over his shoulder. 

“LANCE! You made it!” Eva ran over to him and embraced him in a warm hug. Her hair smelled vaguely of campfire and beer. She pulled back a little, her arms gripping his biceps tightly. Her smile faded into a smirk and she raised one eyebrow. “I brought you something.”

“Good to see you too, Eva” 

Eva reached into her purse and pulled out a tightly folded paper bag. She opened it and showed Lance its contents. “I got you guava pastelitos. For yesterday.”

“Amazing, thanks babe!” Lance said before he could think. His eyes bulged suddenly and his cheeks boiled. Eva shot him a quizzical look and turned to Mateo, who was hovering nearby. 

“You must be Lance’s friend Mateo. Nice to meet you!” She reached out her hand, and Mateo waited a second before tentatively shaking it. 

“Nice to meet you too.” He smiled weakly, not quite reaching his eyes. 

Eva waved over a girl she knew and jumped into a long story about how the guy working at the front desk of her hotel insisted she go all the way across town to get the “good kind” of pastelitos. She kept her arm around Lance’s waist the whole time. He was entranced. He hung on her every word as he finished his beer, laughing at her jokes, watching with interest as the light from the bonfire illuminated her delicate features. At one point, Lance noticed that Mateo had wandered off towards the shore, alone. 

Lance started to excuse himself. Before leaving, though, Eva gently pulled him in for a hug and stood on the tips of her toes, leaning into his ear. 

“We’ll find each other later, okay? My brother is staying with a friend, I have the room to myself tonight.”

Lance’s breath hitched in his throat, hard. His head felt only slightly fuzzy from the two beers, but he didn’t know what to do with that information. He tried to play it as cool as he could, hugging Eva goodbye and promising to see her later. As he walked away, he couldn’t stop his thoughts from spiraling.

Eva probably wanted to have sex with him. It certainly felt that way. But he had never done that before. He’d fooled around, sure, but he’d never stayed in a girl’s bed. Alone. At night after a party. This was a lot to process. What if she could tell he didn’t know what he was doing? Would he really not know what he was doing? He had watched a lot of amateur porn in his time, so maybe he knew more than he gave himself credit. But doing stuff with a real live person was definitely different, right? Maybe? Also would his family be worried if he didn’t come home? He would need to talk to Veronica. 

As if on cue, Lance’s sister emerged from the crowd and grabbed his arm. 

“I’m going home, Lance. The guy I was talking to got really boring. What do you want me to tell Ma?”

Lance blinked. “What do you mean?”

Veronica scoffed. “I saw you talking to that girl. I’m assuming she invited you to stay with her tonight. Do you want me to tell Ma that you had a few too many beers so I booked you a cheap room at the hotel over there so you could sleep it off and you’ll be home tomorrow?”

Lance looked at his sister like she had grown a third eye. Veronica waited a few beats before speaking again.

“Or are you so terrified of sleeping with her that you want me to take you home now? Because I’ll do that too, if you want. Either way, you’re the youngest sibling. You can get away with anything, really. It’s your choice.”

“No, no.” Lance said, finally. “I - I want to stay. Tell Ma - tell her I’ll be home in the morning.”

Veronica’s gaze softened. She ruffled her brother’s hair a little.

“I’ll come pick you up tomorrow. You’re not allowed to say no. You can tell that girl that you’re going home on your own though if you want to feel cool.”

“Thank - Thank you, V. That’s really nice.” Lance stammered. 

“Oh, and Lance?”

“Yeah?”

“Go talk to Mateo. He looks lonely.”

“Uh, yeah. I was just about to.” 

“Make sure he gets home safe. Love you, Lance.” She pulled her brother in for a tight hug. “She really likes you, _hermanito_ , you’ll be fine,” Veronica said in a soft whisper, before pulling out of the embrace and waving goodbye. 

Lance turned his gaze back to Mateo, who was sitting by the water, his silhouette surrounded by the light reflected from the sea. Lance walked over and sat down next to him.

“Hey man, what’s up? You watching the sea?” Lance said as casually as he could muster. 

“Hey, yeah” Mateo answered, his gaze flickering to Lance before returning to the water. “Just thinking.”

“About what?”

“Nothing important.”

They fell silent. Lance followed Mateo’s gaze and looked out over the water. The noise from the party was drowned out by the sound of waves. 

“What are you gonna do when you get back to the Garrison?” Mateo asked his friend after a moment’s pause.

“What do you mean?”

“Like,” Mateo furrowed his brow. “I feel like I don’t really know much about your life there, and what you do. What your days are like, you know? I’m just curious.”

“Huh, well.” Lance thought for a moment. “I’ll probably get there and just be thrown right back into it. The rigid schedule and class and stuff. I’ll be assigned a new team for the flight drills, so that will be interesting. Now that Keith is gone, I’ll be doing flight sims with the other Cadets in fighter class.”

“Do you miss him?” Mateo shifted his gaze back to Lance.

“Huh? Who?”

“Keith.”

“WHAT?” Lance burst out into aggressive laughter. “NO - no, no, no. I do NOT miss Keith. Keith was the WORST. He never listened. He punched my roommate once in class.”

“Uh, okay. You just seemed to mention him often. I just thought - “

“You thought wrong. We were NOT friends. Hunk is my best friend.” 

The air around them suddenly became very tense. Lance regretted what he had said immediately. He swallowed the hard lump in his throat and avoided looking at Mateo. He racked his brain, trying to think of a way to change the subject. He came up with nothing but silence. 

“It’s okay, Lance.” Mateo said after a moment, keeping his gaze fixed on the water. “I know we’re not as close as we used to be.”

Lance felt his lip quiver and he looked at his knees, his hands planted firmly on either side of him. The full weight of the growing distance between them started crashing down on his shoulders. Lance’s thoughts were jerked back to their sleepovers, when they would talk effortlessly for hours, struggling to keep their voices down. And when they would be done talking, but not quite asleep yet. And he would feel Mateo’s hand brush his fingers. And he would tentatively brush back. 

They fell asleep holding hands more times than they could count. At their last sleepover before Lance left for the Garrison, Mateo wordlessly pulled him into an embrace, bringing Lance’s arm around him and pulling his hand to his chest. They slept like that, all night, with Lance’s face buried in Mateo’s hair, Mateo’s back against his chest, his bum in his lap, their legs entwined. In the morning, they didn’t say a word to each other, and Lance left. 

“It’s okay, really,” Mateo said, bringing him back down to Earth. Lance breathed a full, heavy sigh and kept looking at his knees. He dug his hands into the sand. 

“Things change. I’m happy for you, Lance, I really am. You’re really special and you connect with people so easily. I wish I was more like that.”

Lance stayed silent. He felt the lump growing in his throat again. Suddenly, he felt something brush against his fingers, under the sand. Lance looked up and Mateo was staring at him. He felt his friend’s hand press over his. Mateo’s gaze didn’t waver. Lance looked back at the sea, but he didn’t move his arm. 

“I want you to know that you mean a lot to me. This isn’t me trying to get with you or anything right now, I just want you to know that. When you’re gone at school, I miss you. And I miss what it was like before. But it’s okay. I’m not sad or anything, I know you’re having the time of your life and I’m proud of you. Hopefully I’ll get to know what that’s like when I leave for college.”

Lance willingly calmed himself down. He took a couple deep breaths and looked at Mateo, directly this time. 

“I miss you too,” he said finally. He felt Mateo squeeze his hand. “I’m sorry we grew apart.”

“Don’t be. It’s normal. You’ll always be my oldest friend, Lance.” Mateo paused a moment before letting out a smile, this time allowing it to reach his eyes. He removed his hand from Lance’s, and stood up. 

“I’m going to take a taxi home now. I’m not really one for raging parties, and it looks like it’s getting rowdier,” he said, glancing back at the bonfire. He offered Lance a hand to get up. Lance looked up at him and grabbed his forearm, and raised himself off the ground, shaking slightly before standing straight. Mateo let go. 

“Go find Eva. She’s a lucky girl. Just, uh, make sure she’s not too drunk, ok?”

Lance blinked in shock. “Of course, I would never - don’t worry.”

“Goodbye, buddy. I’ll see you before you leave, promise.” Mateo smiled one last time before walking back towards the road. 

Lance turned towards the crowd, scanning it to find Eva. Once he did, he shook out his arms and legs and took a couple deep breaths. His talk with Mateo had ignited something in him. He wasn’t entirely sure what. 

The rest came surprisingly natural to him. 

He rejoined Eva, and he kissed her. They danced. They talked some more. He asked her how much she had to drink. She had only had three beers, she was sobering up. 

They danced slower. He swayed with his arms around her, his hands at her stomach, their hips locked together. 

He held her hand. He followed her up to her room. Her brother wasn’t there, sure enough. 

She said she had done this before. He admitted he hadn’t. She offered up some tips. It reminded him of her teaching him how to climb the overhanging cliff. 

It was a good first time. He had heard so many people talk about how their first times were awkward, or difficult, or embarrassing. His was easy. He turned his brain off and did what felt right. He admired the young woman in front of him, appreciated her beauty, and the ease with which she communicated. At the end of the night, Eva fell asleep first. He lied awake, staring at the ceiling. They didn’t spoon, and they didn’t hold hands. He fell asleep eventually.

In the morning, they kissed a little. Eva thanked him for showing her a great time in Cuba. She said she would remember him. She wished him luck at school. She asked him to say hi to Veronica for her. 

He thanked her too. He asked if they would see each other again. She giggled softly and put a hand on his cheek. She told him she didn’t see how their paths would cross again. She said she hoped he would get to go to space someday. They said their goodbyes, Lance put on his clothes, and met Veronica out in front of the hotel. 

“Mamá, he’s alive, I can literally see him right now. I gotta go.” Veronica hung up her phone and grinned widely at her brother. She embraced him in a big bear hug. She sniffed his hair. 

“You smell disgusting. Like fire and beer and sweat. Take a shower before you hug Ma.”

Lance smiled meekly. They got into the car and Veronica started driving. She didn’t ask questions. She only occasionally looked at him and raised an eyebrow. Eventually, Lance was very aware that he hadn’t said a word to her since he got in the car. 

“Last night was weird,” he said, finally. 

Veronica took a moment to think of a response. “Do you have any regrets?”

“No. Maybe. I don’t know.” 

Veronica kept her eyes on the road. “You know, you can talk to me about anything. This is a judgement-free zone, _hermanito_.”

Lance considered it briefly. He considered telling her that he felt that maybe Eva wasn’t the person he should have had that first time with. But he shut down his train of thought before he could think anything more. 

“Do you think it’s possible to fix a friendship that might not be as strong as it used to be?” Lance asked his sister, without looking at her. 

Veronica considered her words carefully. “I think it’s always possible. And I think that some of the best friendships are the ones where you take some time to grow individually, and then reconnect later. It’s like making a new friend all over again, except you already know and trust each other.”

Lance was quiet for a moment. “I probably can’t do it in three weeks, though.”

The corner of Veronica’s mouth twitched upward. “You have the rest of your life, Lance. There’s no rush. You have next summer, too, remember? And the one after that.”

Lance considered her words. He smiled. He had time. He looked forward to next year.

. . .

Lance didn’t return to Cuba the following summer, or the one after that. Mateo and his family heard he went missing, along with two other students from the Garrison, and one drop out. 

Lance had a lot on his plate while he was in space. He had somehow found himself mixed up in an intergalactic war with the highest stakes imaginable. He was proud of Team Voltron, his new family. But he missed Earth. He missed Cuba and Varadero beach. He missed his birth family. He missed his sister Veronica. He missed his aerial silks. He missed guava pastelitos and his grandmother’s frijoles and maduros. He missed his oldest friend Mateo. 

Lance would never speak to Eva again. He assumed she went off to college and that was that. But he would speak to Mateo again, after the war. It would take a long time, and a lot would happen in between. But it would be just like Veronica said. Like making a new friend all over again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Foods mentioned (in order of appearance):  
> [ Samoan half moon pies (paifala) ](https://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/paifala-american-samoa-half-moon-pies-465662)  
> [ Sweet banana fritters (panikeke) ](https://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/panikeke-lapotopoto-samonan-round-pancakes-457751)  
> [Ice cream ](https://www.saveur.com/cuba-ice-cream-obsession) (this is just an article about ice cream in Cuba and its cultural significance)  
> [Guava Pastelitos ](https://www.africanbites.com/guava-pastry/)  
> [ Black beans (frijoles negros) ](https://icuban.com/food/frijoles_negros.html)  
> [ Fried sweet plantains (maduros)](https://icuban.com/food/platanos_maduros.html)  
> [ Doughnuts (Rosquitas) ](https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/470274386070864785/?lp=true) \- Lance and Mateo's kitten's namesake  
> [ Cristal (Cuban beer) ](https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1685/8628/)  
> Also, _hermanito_ means "little brother" in Spanish.


	3. Allura

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance is on the Atlas, enjoying some downtime before the war comes to a head. Or trying to enjoy it, at least. Veronica comes to him with a revelation, Allura needs support, and Keith is more elusive than ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a S8 fix-it of sorts. The majority of the chapter takes place directly before the events of "Day Forty-Seven." I didn't want to try and unravel the whole season, so my goal was to add scenes around the canon and fill in some blanks. Hope you enjoy!

“Try to keep up.”

“As if I need to try. You’re going down, mullet.” Lance activated his bayard and raised his broadsword steady in front of himself, his gaze remaining focused on Keith’s eyes, the corner of his mouth raised in a tight grin. His sparring partner raised his own sword, eyes burning with intensity as he stared Lance down. At the sound of the beep, Lance waited a moment for Keith to make the first move, knowing he would. _He always did_. 

As expected, Keith lunged forward, hitting his sword against Lance’s, before dodging out of Lance’s reach and spinning around. He tried a low sweep, aiming for his partner’s legs. This is a typical Keith move. He always fights dirty. 

Lance decided to fight dirty back. There were increasingly more shoves and attempted trippings, grunts and bruises as the black and red paladins danced around one another. Lance was feeling much more comfortable sparring with Keith than before, despite knowing he was outmatched. Ever since he had activated his broadsword, Lance hadn’t ever ended up using it. Probably because he was much more accustomed to his rifle, but also because he was a little intimidated. He was Keith’s right hand, after all, which made him very aware of his friend’s skill and agility with his own blade. He preferred to stay in his own lane as Keith’s backup and sharpshooter, where he was most comfortable. 

Now, however, Lance was starting to wonder if his skills were battle-ready. Keith staggered back a little bit, hunching, heaving, with sweat on his brow. He looked angry, and Lance knew it was because he was putting up one of the best sword fights he ever had. He held Keith’s gaze, and noticed it soften a little bit. His teeth were slightly bared, but his mouth curved up ever so slightly into a grin. Lance grinned back, over his own heavy sighs. His gaze shifted slightly lower, noticing Keith’s grey t-shirt was weighed down with sweat, clinging to his frame. Then before he could think, Keith ripped forward and disarmed him with a loud clatter, and Lance fell to the ground. When he looked up, Keith was holding his sword to his neck, grinning widely. 

“NICE ONE, ESPINOSA! YOU LASTED 46 SECONDS LONGER THAN LAST TIME!” Rizavi shouted from across the room, where Pidge and Hunk rested with the MFE pilots. James Griffin grumbled and handed Pidge and Kinkade 5 gac each. 

“Griffin, I question your judgement,” Leifsdottir said, sincerely. “Perhaps next time you should avoid betting altogether.”

“Someone’s gotta have faith in Espinosa,” James replied, holding his fist out to Lance, who bumped it as he joined them. “You’ll own Kogane’s ass eventually.”

“Thanks, roomie,” Lance smiled. He and James’ relationship had improved significantly in the 40-odd days they had spent aboard the Atlas. Despite never becoming actual friends during the years they roomed together at the Garrison — likely due to James’ inexplicable love of rules and Lance’s natural-born inclination to ignore them — he liked to think that the two of them had maintained a certain bond. Which was probably why, after everyone had already lost faith in Lance’s sparring talents, Griffin was still willing to lose gac after gac just so he’d feel like someone believed in him. It was nice. 

“I don’t know, he’s still got a long way to go,” Keith said softly, joining them. “He’ll get there eventually.” Keith looked down at Lance with a look that could almost be interpreted as… pride? Keith was proud of him? 

“Don’t go soft on me, buddy!” Lance mock whined between sips of his water bottle. 

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” Keith snatched the bottle from Lance’s hand and took a few gulps. He looked back at Lance with a hardened expression. “You lost focus at the end and your reflexes suffered for it. You need to maintain eye contact to predict your opponent’s next move.”

“Uuuuughh, I WAS focused,” Lance groaned, rolling his eyes. “You’re just better than me with swords.” 

“You were distracted,” Keith said, firmly. “But, you’re not wrong about that last thing.” His mouth contorted into a grin. 

Lance gaped at him, veins pulsing in his temple. “HEY!”

“Y-you said it first!” Keith sputtered between chuckles as Lance swatted him with his towel. 

“Alright idiots, you’re both very talented with swords,” Rizavi interrupted. “We’ve got a meeting with Veronica and Iverson, so we gotta scram. Bye Paladudes!” Kinkade, Leifsdottir, and James got up to join her, saying their goodbyes as they left the training room. Pidge got up from her seat and stretched, before turning her attention to Lance and Keith. 

“Hunk and I were gonna head over to the lab and feed leftovers to the carnivorous plants.”

“It’s so awesome, guys, seriously,” Hunk chimed in. “Last time, this one plant actually _chewed_ a mouthful before it completely closed its little plant mouth. It was _so cool_. You should join!”

“Ha no way! I’m in! I’ll go get Allura and meet you in a bit.” Lance grinned. He got up and started gathering his belongings as Hunk and Pidge made their way out, before noticing Keith’s silence. He looked up at his friend, who was wordlessly throwing a hoodie on. “You in, buddy?”

“Uh, I — I’m good,” Keith said, avoiding Lance’s gaze. “Gotta see Shiro for something.” He shot a quick glance and a small smile at Lance before throwing his duffle bag over his shoulder and heading out of the room. Lance’s gaze trailed after him, his brow furrowing. 

Keith had become increasingly harder to spend time with since boarding the Atlas. He was always excusing himself from hanging out with the rest of the Paladins, and seemed to prefer spending time with either Shiro or Krolia and Kosmo. Lance couldn’t shake the feeling that something was _off_ , especially given he and Keith had become especially close during their stay on Earth. In the field and in training, he and Keith were still completely synchronized — fighting alongside one another had become second nature. 

However, in their day-to-day life aboard the Atlas, Lance found himself missing the moments where he and Keith would spend time together and talk with complete ease. Surprisingly, he even missed when they would sit in comfortable silence, taking in their surroundings. Although Lance was typically the last person to enjoy sitting still without talking, he didn’t feel that kind of pressure with Keith. For a fleeting moment before they took off on the Atlas, Lance had realized that maybe somehow, his former rival had become his best friend. But from the minute they were back in space, Lance could feel him pulling away. He wanted to know why, but he was also a little terrified of learning the answer. Maybe Keith hadn’t felt the same way about their friendship.

Lance sighed and shook himself to clear his head. At least he wasn’t truly alone, being able to spend more time with Allura. His first-ever relationship had been going… smoothly? He thought? He didn’t really have anything to compare it to, so maybe he wasn’t the best judge. Sure, she was busy most days with Romelle, and Coran, and the Alteans Robeast pilots. But they were able to spend their nights together, which was nice. Allura had been overwhelmed lately, especially since Honerva slipped through their grasp the week before. Lance knew there wasn’t much he could do to help her try to communicate with the Alteans, so he aimed to be her rock after work hours, when it was just the two of them holding each other at night. 

It hadn’t been easy. Allura was frustrated that she couldn’t effectively communicate with her own people, and Lance felt utterly useless knowing there was nothing he could do. His girlfriend would assure him that it was okay, and that being there to support her and listen was enough. But on most nights, they would both go to bed feeling emotionally drained. Being in the middle of a war was definitely a factor, without a doubt. On some nights, though, when Allura would be sleeping soundly on his chest and he would be awake staring at the ceiling, Lance wondered if two people could even be in a solid relationship under these circumstances. Or if maybe, their inability to fully support one another was a sign that things wouldn’t last. 

Lance shook the thought again as he made his way towards where he knew Allura and Romelle were working. When he got there, the two Alteans were hunched over a datapad, mumbling about something. They looked up at him and smiled warmly. He grinned back and walked over to Allura, giving her a quick peck. 

“We just finished training. Keith won, again, but I lasted 46 seconds longer than last time,” Lance said confidently, raising an eyebrow. “That’s like, probably 30-something ticks.”

Romelle giggled. “That poor boy Griffin must be out over a hundred gac by now!”

“Hey, don’t make fun of my biggest fan,” Lance quipped, winking at Romelle. 

“I’m certainly happy to hear that your swordsmanship has been improving,” Allura said, smiling at him warmly. “Keith must be proud of you.”

“That guy? No way, he just loves winning.” Lance hitched the strap of his bag higher up on his shoulder. “Anyway, I’m gonna go change but I was wondering if you ladies wanted to join Hunk, Pidge, and I in the lab. We’re gonna spend our break feeding space meat to those weird plants with teeth.”

Allura’s eyebrows furrowed and she looked back at her datapad, before meeting Lance’s gaze once again. 

“I’m sorry, Lance, but Romelle and I have a lot to do,” Allura said apologetically. “Do give my regards to Hunk and Pidge though, and I wish you much luck in pleasing the carnivorous plants.”

Lance hadn’t really expected her to tear herself away from her work, but he couldn’t help feeling slightly dejected. Regardless, he smiled at her anyway, said he understood, and gave Allura a short kiss on her forehead before leaving. 

. . .

“Oh my GOD I think it has PREFERENCES! He likes the red space meat way more than the dark grey one!”

“That’s so weird! Do you think it prefers meat raw or cooked?”

“Do we have raw stuff?” 

“Yeah, I brought some.”

“...”

“...”

“Oh my god.”

“Pidge! It HATES it!”

“Is it gagging?! Write that down!”

“Lance, are you seeing this? Buddy?” Hunk furrowed his brow. 

“Uh — what?” Lance’s attention abruptly tore away from his thoughts. He had been relatively wrapped up in his head since joining Pidge and Hunk in the labs. “Oh, super cool. Gross.”

“Buddy?” Hunk shot him a look of concern. “You good?”

“Mhm.” Lance furrowed his brow and looked down at his hands. With Allura busy and Keith potentially sort of avoiding him, he found himself experiencing the same constant dull ache in his chest that followed him every day when Allura was working with Lotor, and Keith had left for the Blade of Marmora. Spending time with Hunk and Pidge didn’t quite help, since he often felt like they operated on another level than him, engrossed in whatever quirky project demanded their attention that day. In these moments, he preferred being alone, distracting himself. 

“I’m gonna go, I gotta talk to Veronica,” Lance said, abruptly getting up. In the corner of his eye, he saw Pidge raise an eyebrow and exchange a concerned look with Hunk.

“Lance,” Pidge said, before he could reach the door. “You know you can talk to us if something is bothering you?”

“Yeah buddy,” Hunk chimed in. “We got you.”

“I’m good, seriously.” Lance forced a slight smile. “I’ll see you guys later. Let me know if the plant likes Earth chicken.” He spun around and headed for the door before Hunk and Pidge could press him further. 

. . .

Lance did not plan on going to find Veronica. Instead, he had installed himself in the starboard observatory, where he typically spent his alone time. There was a very powerful telescope installed in the room, and the wall was fully transparent. Sometimes Lance came here to gaze through the telescope and try to see if he recognized any of the star systems he found. Other times, this time included, he sat on the small sofa facing the window, thinking. 

Their first week on the Atlas, Lance had come here exactly twice — once by himself one night when he couldn’t sleep and decided to explore, and once the next day with Keith. They had been training together, and Lance offered to hang out and show him the observatory afterwards. They took turns trying to find Earth with the telescope, and gave up after they realized they had no idea what they were looking at. Once they settled on the sofa, they reminisced a little about their time on Earth, and laughed about Shiro and Curtis’ sexual tension. It felt almost as if they weren’t in the middle of a war. Keith asked him about how things were going with Allura, and he replied that they had been going pretty good, all things considered. He thanked Keith for calming him down before their first date. He remembered his friend smiling without looking at him, before they sat in silence for a few ticks, gazing out at the stars. They were called for dinner a moment later. 

What had happened between then and now, for Keith to start avoiding him? Lance furrowed his brow and sat forward on the sofa, his elbows resting on his knees, hands clasped together. It was surely the stress of the war, their mission, and of leading the team. They had a lot on their plates, himself included, and it was only natural that —

“I thought I’d find you here, _hermanito_.”

“Wha —” Lance perked up and turned his head to the door, where Veronica stood, her hands clasped together in a similar way to his, a tight smile on her face. She looked… _nervous_? That was odd. 

“Mind if I join you in your brooding?”

“I’m not brooding! I’m just… looking at the stars and stuff.”

Veronica let out a shaky laugh and made her way to the sofa, sitting down next to her brother. She stared at her knees and pursed her lips, similarly to how Lance did when he was thinking hard about something. His sister sighed and looked out of the window, and Lance suddenly got the sense that she was on the verge of dropping a bomb. He had never known his sister to be at a loss for words, and had always considered her the most stable and understanding of all his siblings. If he was trying to be Allura’s rock, it was only because Veronica had taught him what that meant. 

“Is… everything okay, V?” he asked, with a heavy twinge of concern. 

“Yes, everything is great actually,” she replied, turning to face him, a soft smile on her lips. “I’m just a little nervous about what I’m going to say.”

This was definitely weird. 

“You’re NEVER nervous!” Lance blurted out, his eyes slightly bulging. Veronica paused for a beat before erupting into laughter. He kept staring at her incredulously, his confusion mounting by the second. Veronica took a couple deep breaths in between chuckles and wiped her eyes quickly. She sighed and turned back towards Lance, seeming much more relaxed than before. 

“Okay, okay. You’re right, I have no reason to be nervous right now. It’s just —” 

“Just what?”

“I haven’t said what I’m about to say to anyone in our family yet, and I’ve had a hard time thinking about how to approach it.” 

Lance’s gaze dropped, considering her words. Veronica was choosing him to tell some sort of big secret to? The same Veronica who kept a lock on her bedroom door to stop him from snooping, and who didn’t tell him about any of her three consecutive boyfriends while they were at the Garrison. _This was definitely extremely odd_. Lance raised his eyes and looked at his sister sternly. 

“V, what the fuck is happening?”

Veronica looked like she was stifling more laughter. Lance let out an exasperated sigh. 

“I swear, V, if you’re fucking with me I’m going to leave.”

“I'm not, I’m trying to be serious but apparently it isn’t working. You’re too cute.”

“I’M NOT CUTE! DON’T PATRONIZE ME!” Lance yelled, wounded. 

“OKAY, OKAY, I’ll stop.” Veronica straightened her back and looked out the window, the ghost of a smile still lingering on her face. “I’m bisexual.”

Lance’s expression transitioned to downright stupefied. “WHAT?!”

“I — I like girls too, Lance.”

“WHAT THE HELL V, I THOUGHT YOU WERE GOING TO TELL ME YOU’RE DYING!”

Veronica completely keeled over laughing, clutching her abdomen. Lance looked at her as if she had grown a new head. His sister inhaled a few more deep breaths before relaxing completely and facing him once again, smiling fondly. She waited until she was entirely composed to speak again.

“This has been on my mind a lot recently, and I just wanted to tell you. I’m sorry for freaking you out before.”

“I uh — okay, I’m, jeez…”

Veronica snorted. “Thank you for your kind, supportive words.”

“I’m trying, okay!” Lance said before running a hand through his hair. “That’s… that’s great? I’m serious V, I’m kinda shocked that you told me first and… I guess, I’m… proud of you?”

“Thank you, _hermanito_ , that means a lot.”

“I’m still a bit confused though,” Lance said, furrowing his brow. “Why now? Why did this come up? I mean, no offence really, but there’s so much happening right now it seems like a weird time for a heartfelt coming out moment. How long have you wanted to tell me?”

Veronica took a moment to consider the question, and sighed. 

“To be honest, it’s not like I’ve known my whole life. I liked guys so I assumed that was it, and that I’d end up dating them and marrying one, maybe. But eventually I sort of realized that I was drawn to people who weren’t guys, too. I woke up to the fact that some of my friendships with my female friends reflected that, and that my feelings for them were more complicated.” She paused, looking at Lance for reassurance that she could continue. He smiled and nodded.

“I didn’t think it was important enough to tell you,” she continued, “or anyone in our family for that matter. You know how nosy they can be.” Lance chuckled. He definitely knew.

“I told my close friends, and that was that. I mostly ended up dating guys anyway, since it was easier and I knew how to go about it. I figured I’d cross the bridge of explaining things to my family once it came up.”

“And now,” Lance interrupted, grinning mischievously, “it has come up, hasn’t it?”

Veronica furrowed her brow. “What do you mean by that?”

“I mean, do you have a special lady friend I should know about?” The evil grin on Lance’s face widened. The times Veronica had teased him about the girls he liked started flashing in a loop in his head. He couldn’t wait for the day when he could finally tease her back.

It appeared that day had finally come.

Lance lowered his brow and leaned towards Veronica’s horrified expression. “So… Is she cute?”

“LANCE, THERE IS NO ‘SHE’! OKAY? I’M NOT SEEING ANYONE.”

“But you like someone. You must. You wouldn’t be telling me all this otherwise.”

“Uuuuugh you’re the worst. I swear, I will leave you here.”

Lance laughed to himself before calming down a bit. “Okay, I’ll stop _this time_ since this is a big moment for you. But I'll be bothering you later.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less from you. It serves me right, honestly.” Veronica chuckled and looked at Lance softly. She sighed, and her gaze darkened slightly. “I’m mostly telling you because I feel like we’re kind of staring death in the face. The war is going to be over soon, and regardless of how things go, we really don’t know how much time we have left.”

“V, don’t say that.” 

“No, I need to say this.” Veronica took in a deep sigh, and leveled her gaze with her brother’s, her blue eyes piercing his. “I couldn’t live a minute longer knowing I was hiding an important part of myself from you. I’ve always wanted to be a good older sister to you and Rachel, and to be a good example to everyone who might end up looking up to me. And I feel like I can’t do that if I’m lying by omission.” 

Her lip quivered slightly, and Lance could swear he saw her eyes watering. She opened her mouth to speak again but nothing came out. Lance immediately wrapped his arms around her tightly, settling her head on his shoulder. He felt her arms wrapping around his back.

“You’ve been the best role model I could ask for, V.” Lance’s own voice faltered a little as he felt her sniffle against him. “You’re my hero, V, you’ve always been my hero. I know I always said it was Shiro but he was a close second.” They both laughed softly, and pulled away to look at each other once again. Lance beamed at his sister harder than he ever had, and she matched the fondness of his expression. “I love you so, so much, V.”

“I love you too, _hermanito_ I always will.” Veronica took a deep breath and rested her hands in her lap once again. “Okay, it’s your turn now.”

Lance stared at her blankly. “My turn to what?”

“What are you brooding about?” Veronica raised an eyebrow. “I know you only come here alone when something is bothering you. I just bared my entire soul to you, so it’s your turn to talk about your feelings.”

“I DON’T HAVE FEELINGS!” Lance yelled back, a little too passionately. 

Veronica waved a hand at him. “I’m not trying to pry, but I’m a little worried. You’ve been more quiet the past while and you keep coming here alone. If something is wrong, you can talk to me about it.”

Lance considered her offer, but had no idea what to say. He wasn’t entirely sure what was wrong in the first place. So what if people were busy and didn’t have time for him in the middle of a goddamn war? It’s not a big deal. 

“It’s really not important, V. I’m fine, no one is dying.”

“Lance, I’m serious. You don’t seem very grounded lately.”

“I, uh.” Lance faltered. _Fuck it_ , he decided. “I think Keith is avoiding me.”

Veronica raised her brows slightly, but maintained her gaze. “And what makes you think he’s avoiding you?”

“I don’t know, it’s just… since we got on the Atlas he never wants to hang out with us anymore after training, and it’s kinda weird. I thought… I thought we had bonded, you know?” Lance rubbed the back of his neck. “Like, we’re not just teammates or whatever, we — I don’t know. Maybe he’s just busy and doesn’t have time.”

“Have you tried talking to him about it? Or telling him you miss him?”

Lance scoffed. “I don’t, like, _miss_ him, I just think it’s weird…” he trailed off. 

Veronica looked out the window at the stars. She was smiling just enough for it to be noticeable. 

“You know, _hermanito_ , that boy has a tremendous amount of respect for you. I’ve seen the way you work together, and the way you interact. There’s no doubt in my mind that he wouldn’t make time for you if you asked him to.”

“But he doesn’t want to—”

“Have you tried asking him to hang out directly, just with you? I don’t mean what you and the Paladins do after training, I mean telling _him_ to his face that you miss spending time with him?”

Lance pouted. “No, I guess I haven’t done that.”

“Then do that. Go to him first, and I’m sure he will make the time.”

Lance looked at his sister and quirked up the corner of his mouth. “You make too much sense, sometimes, V. It’s annoying. Why can’t you let me brood in peace?”

Veronica scoffed. “You know I would never dream of leaving you alone to wallow, even for a second.”  


. . .

After dinner, Lance didn’t get the chance to track Keith down and speak to him. He vowed to do it the next chance they got. 

As he headed to bed, he didn’t see Keith anywhere. It seemed he had already gone to his quarters for the night. _He’s probably busy, and tired,_ Lance thought. _It’s not a big deal, I’ll talk to him later._

. . .

Lance was lying with Allura in her bed. They spent most of their time in her quarters, and Lance only really used his when he was having a particularly difficult time falling asleep. He had one hand nestled behind his head, and one around her with her head resting in the crook of his shoulder. They lay in silence, likely mulling over the day’s events. 

“Did you make any headway with talking to the Alteans?” Lance asked, already knowing what Allura would say. If she had made headway, she probably would have let him know already.

“No, we did not.” Allura said, a pained expression on her face. 

“You will,” Lance replied gently, lightly rubbing her shoulder with his thumb. “If anyone can, it’s you. You’re the best diplomat in the universe and you could probably get a weblum to reveal its secrets with enough convincing.”

Allura laughed and pressed her head into him. After a moment, she stilled. “It’s been difficult. I don’t know if they will ever say a word to me. I spent so much time thinking Coran and I were the only Alteans left and now…” Her voice faltered slightly. Lance squeezed her shoulder. “And now that I know we’re not, I want to be hopeful that we will be able to communicate. But I feel that hope dwindling with every passing day.” She sighed. “It feels almost silly to be hopeful at this point.”

“It’s never silly to be hopeful, Allura.” Lance turned his head and nestled his face lightly in her hair. “You’ve already accomplished so much. You’re the reason we were all brought together, and the reason we have a fighting chance. You’re the most badass lady I’ve ever met and I’m positive that those Alteans will see that eventually and trust you. You’re good at getting people to trust you, and you deserve that trust.”

“Thank you Lance. That means so much.” He could feel her smiling from where her cheek rested against his chest. 

After a moment, Allura propped herself up on her elbow and looked at Lance. 

“Did you spend time with Veronica today?”

“Yeah, I did. It was really great.”

Allura smiled warmly at him. “That’s wonderful, I’m glad she’s here.”

“It was pretty… emotional, honestly.” Lance sighed. “She wanted to get some things off her chest because… because we don’t know how things are going to go, you know?”

Allura’s gaze flickered downward. She looked no less wonderful than she always had, but it was obvious that she was downright drained. Lance wished he could do something to help. 

“Allura,” he started, not entirely sure what he was going to say. “I know things are rough. If there’s anything I can do—”

“Lance,” Allura looked up at him, staring with hardened determination. “I need you to make me a promise.”

“Of course,” Lance said, surprised. “Anything.”

“Promise me that if I am no longer here after the war, and even if I am, that you will cherish the time you have with your family and those who are closest to you. You are lucky to have them. They should be your priority.”

Lance was taken aback. “Don’t say that, you’ll make it—”

“Promise me, Lance.”

“I do.” Lance didn’t know what else to say. Before he could think of something more, Allura laid back down in the crook of his shoulder and closed her eyes. Lance felt the full weight of what she had said to him. Allura had lost her family, and her entire planet. There was nothing he could do except promise that he understood, and that he would do exactly as she asked. “I promise I will.” She squeezed his hand once before they let themselves drift off to sleep. 

. . .

Lance didn’t get the chance to speak to Keith about hanging out. More missions came up, and the more time passed the more Lance convinced himself that it was just his imagination — that Keith was busy being their leader. He ignored Veronica’s disapproving glances. 

. . .

The Paladins ran to their lions for what they knew would be their final battle with Honerva. Everything was moving very quickly, and Lance could barely keep track of what was happening. He held Allura’s hand as long as he could, and said goodbye to her in the hangar. It was a quick peck on the head — they had no time, after all — and a reassuring squeeze of the hand before they parted. Lance moved forward, trying to ignore the pounding in his chest. 

In the corner of his eye, he saw a white and red figure running. Without thinking, he doubled back and sprinted to Keith, almost crashing into him. Keith stopped, confused and out of breath, before Lance wrapped his arms around him in a hug, their armor clanging together noisily. He let go immediately and Keith stared at him, bewildered. 

“We got this, buddy,” Lance said softly, before running back towards Red. 

. . .

 

. . .

 

. . .

 

. . .

 

It had been a year since the end of the war. The Paladins, Coran, and the mice had finished their first annual dinner in honor of Allura’s sacrifice. They were getting ready for bed when their lions called to them for a final goodbye. After watching them depart into the distance, Lance sensed the markings on his cheeks brighten, and his heart felt full. 

The Paladins sat with Coran in the Altean grass, and delayed going to bed in favor of sharing their favourite memories of Allura and the lions. As time passed, they returned to their quarters, one by one. Except Lance and Keith. 

Lance didn’t want to return to bed just yet. He had waited because there were some things he knew he could talk about with Keith that he couldn’t with the others. He also hadn't seen much of his friend after the war's end; Keith had been working with Krolia and the Blade on restoring Daibazaal, and he had been on Earth at his family farm. They had conversations, but rarely face to face. Lance wanted that to change.

“Are you okay?” Keith asked once they were alone. 

“I am,” Lance replied, and he meant it sincerely. He missed Allura with every fibre of his being, but he also knew that Keith, Shiro, Hunk, Pidge, and Coran felt the exact same way. His short romantic relationship with Allura hadn’t defined his memories of her in her absence, and he honestly didn’t want them to. They were outshined by his first memories of forming Voltron, of their victories with the Coalition, of their time on Earth, and even of how happy she had been after visiting Oriande. The tail end of the war was a painful time, and even though they had been together, they were certainly not at their best. 

“I’m really proud of her,” Lance said, softly. “She made the hardest decision anyone could make without a second thought because she knew it would give us all a future. I just wish she hadn’t had to make that decision in the first place. She deserved to see Altea restored.”

“She did. But I’m proud of her too. We wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for her.”

Keith and Lance sat in silence for a few moments, gazing up at the stars. 

“Remember Bob’s game show?” Keith asked suddenly. Lance turned to him abruptly and raised an eyebrow.

“No offence Keith, but this seems like a weird time to bring that up.”

Keith chuckled. “I kinda think Allura might have ended up like Bob.”

Lance furrowed his brow. “Uh, you mean hosting some sort of interdimensional game show?”

“No, no, just… I like to think that she’s out there, existing in some other realm of reality. All-knowing and all-seeing, like Bob.”

Lance scoffed. “I didn’t know you were the religious type, Keith.”

Keith rolled his eyes. “It’s not a religion thing, Lance. It’s just…” he took a moment to consider his words carefully. “It’s just that we don’t really know exactly where she went. We know she left our reality, but I think she’s still out there, making fun of our bad decisions and proud of how far we’ve come.”

“Sooo, you think she ascended to godhood? That’s… kind of insane.” Lance grinned at him, and Keith returned a soft smile. “But I like it. I think I’m gonna roll with that, too.”

“We’ve seen plenty of insane things, Lance. I don’t think it’s a stretch.” Keith’s gaze lingered on Lance’s, his eyes still luminous despite the dark of night surrounding them. He thought of when, a few years prior, Lance had stared into those same eyes with jealousy and disdain while aboard the castle ship. Now, he couldn’t imagine ever feeling negatively towards Keith in any way, shape, or form. Lance wondered what he had ever done to deserve Keith as a friend. 

“Hey man,” Lance said after a moment, his eyes shifting back towards the sky. “You know you can come visit the farm whenever you want. I know you’ll be… busy, and stuff. With the Blade and with your mom and Daibazaal, but please visit.”

“Of course,” Keith answered without a second’s pause. “You can... come meet me too on Daibazaal, or Altea, or wherever. Can’t let your piloting skills get rusty.”

“Hey! I’m a great pilot!”

“Not for long if you spend your days milking cows.”

“THAT’S NOT ALL I DO, KEEITH!” Lance glowered at his friend a moment and caught sight of Keith’s shit-eating grin. Lance sputtered, and burst out into hearty laughter. Keith followed suit. 

After a few moments, they composed themselves and their laughter died out, replaced by a comfortable silence. Lance lowered his gaze to his hands and sighed. 

“I really mean it, man. I’ve missed you the past few months.” He took a deep breath. “Back on the Atlas, before shit really hit the fan, Allura made me promise her to appreciate my family and spend time with them after the war. That’s why I’ve been on Earth. I know you just think I’m milking cows but I just want to spend—”

“Of course I understand, Lance. You don’t need to explain.” Keith looked directly at him once again, his gaze unwavering with quiet intensity. 

“Yeah, thank you Keith. But…” Lance faltered slightly, looking down and searching for his words. He felt that he had been at this precipice before, a long time ago, when he and Mateo spent the evening on the beach right before Lance left for the Garrison. In retrospect, that night had signaled the end of their run as each others’ closest friends. He didn’t want that to happen with Keith. Not yet, not ever. He closed his eyes. 

“You’re my family too. You and Hunk, Shiro, Pidge, and Coran. I wouldn’t be living my life to the fullest without you in it.” 

When he opened his eyes, Keith was looking at him with the most gentle gaze he had ever seen on his friend’s face. His lips were parted, slightly, and he looked positively touched. 

“Of course, Lance.” Keith said after a moment, turning away. “I’m not going anywhere. None of us are.”

Lance smiled. He thought of Allura, and how he had her to thank for his chance at a future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We've passed the halfway point! The next two sections are a wild ride, and I can't wait. I'm by far most excited for the post-canon part of this story. 
> 
> I'm trying to stick to an update schedule of every Sunday, fingers crossed.


	4. Teoravi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance is 23 and has hit a dry spell. He meets an attractive alien, his friends are helpful and supportive, and he has some important revelations about what he wants in a partner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes: This chapter is where the “Mature” rating comes into play. There is no explicit smut (although there are scenes that take place directly after the act). Most of the mature content stems from the characters engaging in detailed conversations about sex, and from gratuitous references to masturbation. The conversations are all sex-positive and supportive, and mostly center around sleeping with other alien races, and bottoming. Enjoy!
> 
> (side note: There is some mention of blood in this chapter. A character gets a small cut on their hand and bleeds. If you don't want to read that, skip the part between when Pidge wakes up and Lance reads his texts.)

It was cramped and wet in the city. Lance loved the rain, but he didn’t like it here. At home, on the farm, it was beautiful. It cast a delicate sheen on the grass, on the crops, on the juniberry flowers. Here, everything was dark and slick. He knew the sun was setting somewhere, but he couldn’t see it through the grey overcast sky. 

Lance had gotten used to the farm. To waking up with the sun, to a regular schedule of homemade breakfast, work in the greenhouse, homemade lunch, work outside, homemade dinner, watching the sun set, and reading until he fell asleep. He loved making up for lost time with his family, although they didn’t offer him much in the way of privacy or personal space. He looked forward to his niece and nephew coming home from school every day, wanting to help him with Kaltenecker and the other Earth cows. He appreciated Marco and his wife Susana, making dinner for everyone every night. He especially loved when his mother would hug him spontaneously, telling him she was proud of him. He happily anticipated Veronica’s weekend visits when she didn’t have too much work at the Garrison. It was a lovely, wholesome routine. It was great, really. He hadn’t felt as comfortable and loved in a long time. 

But he also hadn’t gotten laid in a long time. A fucking long time. How can you even _get_ laid when you’re living on your giant family’s high maintenance farm in the middle of the rural-ass part of Cuba?

It wasn’t because of Allura. It wasn’t because of grief. He had three years to grow, mourn, leave the war behind. Nowadays, he was thriving. The farm had done wonders for his health, mental and physical, and his family had been a beacon of support. His friends would visit sometimes, and it would be swell. Sometimes he would fly out and meet with them. They’d have a lovely time. By all accounts, his life was actually pretty great. 

It was everything he wanted. Minus the constant, nagging, sexual frustration. He couldn’t even jerk off in his own room without the risk of his niece or nephew barging in through the door, no matter the hour. The shower was risky as well, given his family members had no personal boundaries and were completely fine with using the toilet while someone was bathing. Privacy was a thing of the past. 

Lance shuddered. He shouldn’t be thinking of jerking off while walking casually down a busy street with loads of strangers bustling around him. _This was so frustrating._ He was in his prime, 23 years of age, and his sex life was barren as the fucking desert. Which was why, on this little weekend trip into the city to see his friends, he was gonna get laid. Hopefully. Or treat himself to a peaceful evening of self-stimulation with bath bombs and massage oil at the hotel. The latter option was almost more exciting, he hadn’t had quality alone time in so long. 

He stopped in front of a four-story building boasting several neon signs. The facade appeared to be a patchwork job of Human and alien architecture. The signs were violet, eerily similar to the lighting on a Galra ship. Back on the farm, away from civilization, Earth felt normal. It felt just as it had before the war, before Voltron, even before he had joined the Garrison. But the cities were different. Earth was a galactic hub now, inhabited by countless races of aliens coexisting with humans, and many others visiting as intergalactic tourists. The cities were definitely interesting, and a fun time, but Lance couldn’t help feeling a tad overwhelmed, having gotten used to a quiet, rural life. 

He approached the bar. Some Galran synth-like music was playing. It was similar to the weird shit Keith listened to when he gave Lance lifts home in his ship. _He must have picked the spot this time_ , Lance thought to himself, smirking. 

He nodded to the bouncer, an unusually beefy Unilu, and entered. The bar was dimly lit with a violet tint, and there was an assortment of what appeared to be antique extraterrestrial knives bolted to the walls. _Yep, Keith’s choice_. The space wasn’t exactly packed yet. There may have been a couple dozen patrons mingling, but there was definitely enough room for himself and the Paladins — save Shiro, who was busy planning a wedding — to snag a table and get comfortable. 

They hadn’t arrived yet though, of course. Lance operated on farm time, which was 15 minutes earlier than scheduled. The rest of them operated on space time, which was more akin to _whenever I get there, I don’t know_. He was used to it.

He made his way over to the semi-occupied bar. Leaning forward and addressing the Human bartender, he ordered a double mojito shamelessly since Keith and Pidge weren’t here to make fun of him yet. He turned around, pressed his back against the counter and pulled out his phone. 

**L**  
_I’m here losers  
I win, again _

**H**  
_Sorry buddy!!!! Im on my way, be there soon!_

**P**  
_Same.  
We should give Lance some time, tho, let him drink his secret mojito in peace _

Lance scowled. 

**L**  
_I do not have a secret mojito!_

The bartender slid over his mojito. Lance frowned. 

**L**  
_Shut up_

**K**  
_Running a bit late, we’ll be a while_

‘We’? Who was ‘we’?

 _OH. Right_. 

Keith was bringing his new boyfriend, Dax. Well, more like pretty well-established, dating a few months boyfriend. He was a Blade member Keith had met when he first joined, and reconnected with after the war when he started the whole intergalactic humanitarian aid thing. But Lance hadn’t met him yet, because he had been on the farm, busy not getting laid. 

He sighed, trying to quash his slight pang of jealousy. He never thought he’d see the day when ‘lone wolf’ Keith would be in a loving long-term relationship, and he’d be enduring a prolonged dry spell. This probably wouldn’t have bothered him much if he had a semblance of a love life, or if he’d been able to jerk off regularly at the very least. Probably. But more than half his good friends were in stable relationships now, and it was hard not to be even slightly envious. 

“Hello.”

Lance looked up from his phone at a tall, poised, turquoise, gorgeous alien with long, braided, indigo hair. Their eyes were dark, shimmering and magnetic. Lance’s own widened, completely and utterly caught off guard. 

“H— “ he managed.

“You are a Paladin of Voltron, correct?” 

Lance furrowed his brow. _Right_. People still recognized him, even after all this time. As much as he loved attention, he had made peace with his past and had moved forward. He had grown taller and slightly broader, his hair a dash longer. Though it didn't happen as often, it was still weird to be recognized. 

“Former, but yes.”

“Well, it is indeed an honor to meet you. I was not aware, however, that you were Altean. I had thought you were Human.”

“Huh?” Lance furrowed his brow before suddenly remembering that he had Altean marks on his face. He had grown so used to them he often forgot they were there. “Oh, well it’s a long story. I’m definitely 100% human though. My ex just gave me these as a parting gift when she sacrificed her corporeal form to save all realities. I had always found her marks cute so she had promised to give me some one day.” He shrugged. 

“How fascinating. You have certainly lived a remarkable life, Paladin.”

“It’s whatever.”

His new acquaintance chuckled warmly. “You are humble. It is endearing, especially for someone as handsome and capable as yourself. I must say, the vids certainly did not do you justice,” the alien said, “and it seems the years have treated you rather well.”

Okay, forget that last thing about being recognized. Lance loved attention. 

He relaxed his features into a light grin and offered his hand, a light fluttering sensation in his chest. 

“Lance Espinosa, Red Paladin. Blue too, actually. I piloted _two_ lions.”

“That is very impressive. I am Teoravi Iallitari.” they smiled offering a hand as well, in the exact same way that Lance had without actually taking his hand. Their hands hovered, an inch away from one another. “This is how the humans greet, is it not?” Teoravi asked.

“Uh, actually,” Lance took their hand in his and shook it firmly, his gaze remaining fixed on Teoravi’s eyes. “ _This_ what we usually do.”

“I see. Forgive me, _Lancesspinosa_ , this is my first time vacationing on Earth.”

 _Classic_. Lance thought. _Why do tourists always hit on me?_

“You can call me Lance. And uh, do you have a nickname?”

Teoravi blinked, still smiling gently. “What kind of name?”

“Like, a shorter name that your friends call you.”

“Ah yes. My good friends call me ‘ _galea_ ,’ after a species of fighting fish with swords for noses. I am a very good sword wielder.” Teoravi winked.

_So no hand shaking or nicknames, but they do winks and innuendos. Alright._

“That’s pretty metal,” Lance offered, a note of admiration in his voice.

Teoravi cocked their head to the side, looking perplexed. “It is a fish, not a hard, shiny material.”

“Oh uh,” Lance stammered. He was suddenly acutely aware that he was sweating. Flirting with unfamiliar aliens was harder than he thought. “It’s, uh, metal also means, like, cool and edgy.” He averted his eyes, running a hand through his hair.

Teoravi paused a second, considering, and suddenly burst out laughing. 

“Ahh, Human words are entertaining! I do love a good _double entendre_. That is a Human term I learned from the bartender!”

Lance laughed as well, feeling the tension slowly leave his body. They calmed down after a minute.

“So, can I give you a nickname? May I call you ‘Ravi’?” He took a sip of his drink.

“Of course. You may call me anything you like.” Another wink. Lance choked on his mojito, the alcohol singeing his sinuses. He tried to recover quickly. 

“So, uh, Ravi, where’s your homeworld?”

“I am from Illium, a garden world in the Nos Astra system. My people are the Dalari, a proud race of skilled fighters. I was a member of the resistance during the Galra occupation of our planet.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear about the occupation.”

“Do not be sorry, Lance, we were liberated when the Voltron Coalition took back our neighbouring star systems. And for that, I am eternally grateful to you. It is for that reason that I am here now, enjoying your planet on my vacation.” Teoravi offered him a sincere smile. Lance held on their every word, their voice like a soft, raspy melody. He was into it. 

It was surprisingly easy to carry a conversation, easier at least than Lance had initially expected. Teoravi was a smooth talker, and their slight idiosyncrasies and unfamiliarity with Human customs and language were honestly quite endearing. He soon found himself laughing as well, as his companion told him a particularly entertaining tale about how the customs officer at the Garrison spaceport tried to confiscate their 24 kilos of pickled Illium fish. They had to provide a doctor’s note to prove to the officer that they could only consume foods native to their homeworld, which were near impossible to acquire on Earth. Lance made a joke about how Humans love rules and paperwork, and Teoravi was highly amused. 

The longer they chatted, and the more they laughed, the closer and closer they positioned themselves to one another until they were both leaning back against the bar, shoulders touching, Lance looking up directly into Teoravi’s eyes, only inches away from his. 

Lance attempted to assess the situation. Here he was, in a dimly lit galra-esque bar, with an intimidatingly attractive, blue, amazon-like alien who was physically imposing and taller than himself, and apparently some sort of expert sword fighter. They were also definitely interested in _getting to know him better_. He was well aware of their differences, but talking was surprisingly easy. And he felt that _feeling_ in his gut, the one he hadn’t felt in so long. Not since he last had sex, a year and a half earlier, when he visited Hunk on Altea and hooked up with his sous-chef, Astrid. It was a feeling he associated with knowing something was about to happen with someone that captivated him. He was done his drink, and felt slightly buzzed.

“What are you drinking, Ravi?” He raised an eyebrow, a genuine smile permanently fixed on his face at this point.

“I am drinking water. I cannot consume your alcoholic beverages, but I do enjoy the inorganic salts in Earth water. They leave a pleasant aftertaste in one’s mouth.” Teoravi chuckled heartily. 

_Fuck it._

“You know what else leaves a pleasant aftertaste in one’s mouth?” Lance smirked slightly, attempting to ignore the growing heat in his cheeks. 

“What?” Teoravi asked, interested.

“Me.” 

His smirk faltered slightly as his eyes widened in horror. That was too much. _Oh fuck_. He definitely blew it. 

Teoravi raised an indigo eyebrow and let out a soft laugh. “You really are something. It would be an honor to taste you.”

_What? It worked?_

Before Lance could wrap his head around what was happening, Teoravi had brought a hand to his cheek and their lips to meet his. He melted. Teoravi was a gentle kisser at first, but when Lance reciprocated, all bets were off. Their kisses became firmer, solid, determined. Teoravi licked into his mouth, and Lance nipped at their bottom lip. Their hands roamed, Lance grabbing at their waist, a hand settling into a firm grip on the nape of his neck. It was honestly one of the best kisses of Lance’s life. For once, he was grateful his friends were always late.

After making out for a few minutes, Teoravi was the first to pull away. “You were correct. You do leave a pleasant aftertaste.” They smiled and ran a firm hand through Lance’s hair, grazing against his scalp. Lance keened into their touch, barely capable of formulating a coherent response. 

“Thh — ankss,” he managed, his eyes half lidded. 

“I must go, Lance.” Teoravi looked at him apologetically. “I am still used to Dalari time, and I am afraid my internal clock believes it is almost dawn.”

“Oh, uh,” Lance willed himself to get composed, “Take my number please.” _Nice_.

“Of course.” Teoravi reached into his pocket and took out his phone. They typed in their number and handed it back to him. 

“Please send me a text message. It would be an honour to have you share my bed.”

“Fuck yeah.” Lance honestly didn’t give a shit at this point. A hot alien wanted to bone him.

Teoravi left one final lingering kiss on his lips, and then left with a wave. Lance sat still, leaning against the bar with probably the dumbest grin on his face, the faint hum of the weird Galra synth music echoing around him. After a moment, his eyes focused on a pair of familiar faces at a table nearby. He jolted upright. Pidge and Hunk burst into laughter, and ushered him over. He approached them, semi-reluctantly.

“So,” Pidge began with a smirk, handing Lance an empty glass and a pitcher of beer as he sat down. “How’s that dry spell going?”

“I DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT,” Lance shot back. After a slight exhale, he grabbed the pitcher and poured himself a glass. 

“Aw man, you really didn’t see us come in! We’ve been here for like, fifteen minutes!” Hunk looked more excited for him than anything. “She was cool, that alien person. Kinda tall and scary, but she seemed to think you were really funny.”

“Uh, actually,” Pidge pushed her glasses up her nose. “They were a Dalari, Hunk. The Dalari don’t ascribe to the same archaic notions of gender that most Humans, Alteans, and Galra do.”

“Oh, uh, I didn’t know that! That’s pretty cool. Did you know that, Lance?”

Lance furrowed his brow and looked at Pidge, quizzically. He thought for a moment. 

“No, I didn’t know that but I…” Lance was a little surprised with himself. “I didn’t really think about it? I kinda just found them hot so…” 

“Nice.” Pidge smirked, crossing her arms. “You’re broadening your horizons. First non-humanoid alien.”

“Yeah, nice, buddy!” Hunk grinned widely. “But more importantly, they seemed to really like you! It took me a while to get Shay to understand my humor, but you seemed to pull it off real well.”

“Yeah, thanks man.” Lance grinned at his friend. “I was kinda nervous at first cause Ravi didn’t really understand human customs and looked like they could probably kill me.”

“Maybe they’re just waiting until the right moment to kill you.”

“PIDGE! No!” Hunk shouted, horrified. Lance’s eyes widened in panic. Pidge cackled. 

“I’m kidding, seriously,” she said finally, wiping a stray tear from behind her glasses. “Ravi won’t kill you, I’m sure.”

“Yeah! Ignore Pidge, she’s nuts!”

Lance forced a nervous smile and sighed, looking downward. He took a long sip of his beer.

“I don’t know, though. What if I don’t know what I’m doing when we…”

Pidge raised an eyebrow, and Hunk smiled sympathetically. 

“No worries buddy, it probably won’t be all that different from what you usually do in bed with people.”

“Yeah, it’s just banging. Everyone’s banging aliens lately.” Pidge shot him an evil grin. 

“Everyone?” Lance thought for a moment, his mouth scrunched up in thought. Hunk and Shay were engaged, and she was Balmeran. Matt’s partner, N7, was a cyborg. Coran had been courting Dayak but he didn’t really want to think about them doing anything remotely R-rated. Veronica and Acxa… he didn’t want to think about that either. And Keith — 

“Ugh.” Lance let out a disgruntled huff, crossing his arms. 

Pidge and Hunk’s expressions twisted into concern. 

“What’s wrong, buddy?”

“Yeah, I’m sorry about the whole ‘dry spell’ comment earlier, wasn’t super sensitive of me.”

“No, no, it’s fine.” Lance relaxed a little. He started gesturing with one hand. “It’s just a little, _weird_ to me that _Keith_ would be... dating a Galra... you know... ?” His voice became quieter as he observed the growing confusion in Hunk and Pidge’s expressions. 

“How is that even weird, Lance?” 

“Yeah, like, I’m engaged to a rock lady.”

“And Matt’s partner needs to literally recharge their batteries every night.”

“If anything, it’s way less weird cause, like, Keith is half Galra? So he’s technically _not_ dating an alien, from his perspective?”

Lance let out a grumpy huff and rested his arms on the table. “Fine,” he avoided their eyes, “I guess you’re right.”

“Hey,” Pidge put a hand on his forearm from across the table. “Maybe it might ease your nerves if we did a little… research?” She wiggled her eyebrows. 

“What do you mean?” Lance cocked his head. 

“Oh yeah! That would be really helpful! That really helped me out before Shay and I, uh, _you know._ ” 

“Yeah, like sex ed but for Human/Dalari pairings.” Pidge grinned. Lance could almost see the gears turning in her head. She had passed that threshold of excitement about researching something, and there was definitely no stopping her now. As if on cue, she dug into her backpack under the table, pulled out a datapad, and started furiously tapping on its screen while adjusting her glasses. After a moment, she grinned and turned the screen towards Hunk and Lance, who leaned in, interested.

“This is an anatomical diagram,” Lance braced himself for Pidge’s characteristic sciency ramblings, which typically featured many large words he was unfamiliar with. “Apparently the Dalari are quite humanoid after all. They have internal reproductive anatomy similar to the human uterus and birth canal, as well as an external organ akin to the human penis, except it’s sheathed when unaroused and emerges when erect.”

Lance blinked. “So they have, like, blue dicks?”

“Ooooh that’s pretty neat!” Hunk was grinning. “So cool how some alien races have similar anatomy to Humans, despite evolving light years apart! The universe is so cool.”

“Yeah, it’s awesome!” Pidge tilted the screen towards herself, gazing at the diagram fondly. 

“Huh.” Lance sat back in his chair and took a moment to ponder this new information. Admittedly, knowing what to expect had eased his nerves significantly. He wasn’t all that apprehensive at all anymore. “That is pretty neat!”

“Oh wait.” Pidge squinted at the screen, furrowing her brow. “Apparently Dalari and Human DNA are not very compatible, hence why we can’t consume the same food and beverages. So when they finish, don’t, uh…” she coughed into her hand. “Ingest.” 

“Alright, bring Earth condoms, don’t swallow. Got it.” Lance nodded appreciatively. 

“What the fuck, guys?”

Lance, Hunk, and Pidge quickly whipped their heads up. Keith stood in front of them, arms crossed, eyebrow raised with a noticeable smirk on his face. Next to him, a tall, handsome, grinning Galra was holding a fresh pitcher of beer and two empty glasses. 

“Oh, we were just helping Lance.” Pidge grinned back. 

“By looking at diagrams of blue dicks?” Keith chuckled and turned to Lance. “Way to make a first impression.”

“HEY,” Lance shouted, indignant, his face beet red.

“Sorry, uh, Dax,” Hunk smiled, apologetically, “we’re not normally like this.” 

“They’re always like this.” Keith shot Lance a fond, entertained look and uncrossed his arms, pulling out a chair to sit. Dax set down the pitcher and glasses and did the same. 

“So, uh, I’m Dax,” Keith’s boyfriend said, smiling softly. “Nice to finally meet you all.”

Lance tried to get a good look at him, despite the dim lighting. Dax had an open, friendly face. It was probably due to his having actual irises and pupils, like Krolia and Acxa, as opposed to the blank eyes that Commander Thace had. Come to think of it, he kind of looked like a younger, more expressive Thace, with neat ears and facial hair. He was a little bigger than Keith, but not by much. 

“You must be Pidge and Hunk?” Dax addressed them first. 

“Yep! That’s us! Team Punk!” Hunk grinned, waving. Pidge shot him a toothy smile as she tucked her datapad back into her bag. 

“And this is Lance,” Keith looked at him, still smirking. 

“Yeah, I’m Lance!” his eyes widened slightly and face froze, not knowing what else to say. He was still recovering from getting caught looking at diagrams of Dalari genitalia. 

“Hi, Lance,” Dax said, a shy smile on his face. 

“Sooo, can I ask? About the diagrams?” Keith offered Dax a glass of beer, before pouring himself one. 

“When we got here, Lance was flirting with this tall, blue, alien warrior person at the bar.” Hunk relayed, excitedly. Lance crossed his arms and leaned back, resting his foot on his opposite knee. He wore a proud smirk. 

“And they didn’t notice us come in so we just waited,” Pidge added. “And then they started like, full-on making out against the bar.” 

Keith let out another chuckle. Dax listened, smiling. 

“And then the alien person left and Lance was all googly-eyed and incapacitated, just staring into nothing.” 

“HEY, I am a dignified person, HUNK!” Lance retorted. 

“And he joined us and was all anxious about banging a Dalari, so I did some research for him and that’s when you got here.”

“Oh, my ex was Dalari!” Dax perked up, enthused. “I thought I recognized the images!” Keith choked on his beer. 

“Oooh really?” Hunk leaned forward. “Could it have maybe been the same person?”

Dax chuckled. “I mean, they were tall, turquoise, and kinda intimidating but I suppose that’s a pretty general description.” 

“What was their name, Lance?” Pidge perked up.

“Ravi…” Lance furrowed his brow. “Well, that was the nickname I gave them.”

“Did you… seriously not remember their name?” Keith’s smirk had evolved into a full-on snarky grin. “Typical.”

“They had a really long and complicated name, KEITH!” Lance pulled out his phone to check if Ravi had left their full name in his contact list. Sure enough, he found it. 

“Teoravi Iallitari,” he mumbled. 

“Nope, not the same!” Dax said in good humor. “Could you imagine? that would have been weird!”

“YEAH,” Lance said a little too aggressively, glaring down at his phone. _That would have been really FUCKING weird, DAX,_ he thought to himself, semi-horrified. 

. . .

The rest of the night passed by smoothly. After several more beers and a round of tequila shots on Lance’s insistence, they had become relatively shitfaced. Waking up the next morning in the hotel, groggy with a pounding headache, Lance struggled to recall the latest events of the night. He vaguely remembered Pidge pulling her datapad back out to keep looking at anatomical diagrams again with Hunk, but of Unilu this time. He remembered that he and Keith had freaked everyone out by playing that knife game, where he had laid his hand palm down, his fingers spread out, and Keith stabbed the spaces between them rhythmically with his Blade’s dagger. _What was it called again? Five finger fillet? Something like that._

He also remembered that Dax loosened up a little, and started to have fun. And he was really _nice_ and friendly, and laughed a lot, and after a while Lance found it inexplicably annoying. 

“EUUUUUUUGH,” Lance jumped to the sound of a massive groan, originating from beneath him. He pulled himself up, reluctantly, and found Pidge sprawled on the floor of his room, her glasses askew. 

“I feel like ass!” 

“You look like ass.” 

“HEY!” Pidge threw her phone at Lance, who dogged it expertly. He heard it hit the wall behind him. 

“The fuck, Pidge?”

“The fuck, yourself! Why am I here?” she rubbed her eyes under her glasses. 

“I don’t know?” Lance furrowed his brow in thought, trying to ignore the foul taste in his mouth. “Hunk probably made us buddy-up, we were pretty gone last night.”

“No shit. I feel like I something ran me over. Why did you insist on tequila? After all the beer?”

“That was the best part!”

“Ugh, I have regrets — LANCE! There’s blood everywhere!” Pidge jolted up, horrified. She pointed at his hand. 

Lance looked at his right hand. Sure enough, there was a small gash at the edge of his middle finger, undoubtedly from his game of five finger fillet with Keith. It wasn’t a huge cut, but it appeared to have bled all over his hand and the sheets. 

“Fucking Keith, how did I not notice that.” He raised an eyebrow.

“That’s so nasty, go wash it!”

Lance got up, steadied himself, and went to the bathroom to rinse it all off. He heard Pidge rummaging through her things in the other room. 

“Hey, Lance!” he heard pidge call, after a minute. “I think you got a text from Ravi!” 

“Oh?” Lance returned to the bed and grabbed his phone. Sure enough, Ravi had texted him — because apparently he had texted them late the night before. 

**L**  
_hy gorgeus. wanna have sex tomorrow_

_Oof,_ he cringed. Not his best. 

Teoravi didn’t seem to mind, though.

**T**  
_Hello, Lance. It is a great honor to hear from you. I had an acutely pleasurable time meeting you yesterday, and I would be much in favor of furthering our exploits this evening. I would suggest meeting at a bar, as I know it is human custom to consume food or drink before returning home to engage in casual sexual activity, but unfortunately, I would only be able to consume your Earth water. I suggest that you come to the apartment I am renting, and perhaps you may eat your food beforehand. I myself have enough pickled fish to sustain me, but do not fear, Dalari pickling liquids are not as foul-smelling as those which Humans use. Ours are rather sweet, in fact, but I will drink much Earth water before your arrival to ensure that my mouth is cleansed. I do look forward to seeing you. Please come to 235 Fleet by at 1900 hours Earth time. Teoravi Iallitari_

Lance’s head managed to ache harder from reading the block of text on his screen. _Okay,_ so Ravi was apparently undeterred by his lack of class the night before, and was still interested in him. In fact, he hadn’t tried to put up a front at all, and had been acting completely authentically when talking to Teoravi last night. The best part of their conversation came after Lance felt comfortable knowing that they weren’t going to judge him. This was kind of a first for him. Usually, when talking to a prospective partner, Lance would sometimes consciously try to reel himself in, watch what he said, and experience slight anxiety over being judged for how he presented himself. 

Teoravi, however, obviously had no concept of what was “socially acceptable.” They had no front, and spoke to him in a way that was completely unfiltered, and Lance found himself acting the exact same way in response. And it was honestly _really cool_. He found his excitement mounting, his eagerness growing, and he honestly couldn’t wait until the evening. 

**L**  
_Hi again! I had a great time meeting you too! Sounds like a plan, I’ll be over around then. I wish I could try your pickled fish, but sadly I will need to resign myself to some plain old boring Human food. Maybe I’ll bring you some carbonated Earth water as a gift. We’ll be able to share it! Can’t wait to fuck! :D Lance Espinosa_

He found himself grinning maniacally at the unfiltered stream of consciousness on his phone screen. He felt freer than he ever had talking to a potential partner. 

Lance relayed these revelations to Pidge over breakfast at a local, ancient diner. 

“That’s honestly really great,” she said. “You usually overcompensate when you’re courting someone, it’s nice to see you let loose.”

“Yeah, it feels gr — HEY! I don’t overcompensate!”

Pidge scoffed, chuckling. “You kinda do. But it’s nice to see you all comfortable this time! I think this Dalari person is gonna be pretty good for you.”

Lance’s scowl softened into a smile. “Thanks Pidge.” He cut himself another piece of sausage, took a bite and chewed, before drinking a sip of coffee. Pidge chewed her pancakes thoughtfully. She swallowed.

“I’m still kinda surprised, though,” Pidge said, after a moment. “Mainly cause like, you seem awfully cool with the fact that Ravi is definitely _not_ a woman.”

Lance swallowed a mouthful of food. He stared at her. “Uh, yeah. I mean, they’re a Dalari without the whole gender concept, like you said.”

“Yeah but, you’re you.” Lance raised an eyebrow, not understanding. Pidge sighed.

“You’re like, really aggressively straight most of the time. You love talking about women, how much you love them, how beautiful they are, and you’re constantly losing your mind over random girls you meet. I guess I just wasn’t expecting this open-mindedness all of a sudden. I’m not judging, I think it’s super cool. But yeah.” She shrugged, and took another bite of her pancakes. 

Lance didn’t really know what to say. He thought of Teoravi. Admittedly, they were somewhat of a departure from the people Lance normally pursued. 

“I guess I just, found them attractive like, immediately? And I didn’t really think about that. I found Ravi super funny, and elegant, and endearing, which are all things I normally like in women, so I just went with it?” Lance looked at his plate, breaking out into a smile. “And the best part is that I was totally myself with them, and that was kinda new, and it was pretty great.” 

Pidge considered his words carefully, and grinned. “That’s honestly really sweet. That’s one of the sweetest things I’ve heard you say about someone.”

Lance’s smile became even wider. “I’m really _freaking_ excited, Pidge! I can’t wait to see them!” 

“Hell yeah!” Pidge raised her coffee mug. “To good fucking! I can’t relate, not into it, but I’m happy for you!”

“Yeah! To good fucking! And also not fucking if you’re not into it!”

They clinked their mugs together.

. . .

Lance tried to occupy himself all day, so as to not let the hours drag on in anticipation. He spent some more time hanging out with Pidge, and said goodbye when she left to return to the Garrison. He thanked her for listening to his ramblings, and she wished him luck on his date. 

He met with Hunk to see him off, joined by Keith and Dax. They tried piecing together the incomplete bits of their night out. Apparently Lance had been right, Hunk did get him and Pidge to buddy up given that they were the most inebriated of the bunch, and he had cabbed them to Lance’s hotel before he made his own way back. Keith apologized to Lance for stabbing his hand, and Lance brushed it off. It’s not like they hadn’t ever roughed each other up before, he pointed out. 

During his time with his friends and Dax, Lance became acutely aware of the subtle way Keith and his boyfriend signaled their affection. They weren’t overly touchy by any means, but he caught the way that Dax would sometimes rest his forearm on Keith’s shoulder, comfortably. Or how Keith would lightly hold his partner’s hand and brush his knuckles with his thumb, almost absent-mindedly. Occasionally, they shared subtle knowing glances. It was odd, Lance thought. He had never seen Keith in a relationship before, and hadn’t expected him to have a gentle, affectionate side. _People are full of surprises_ , he mused. 

After Hunk left to return to Altea, Keith offered Lance a lift back to the farm the morning after his date with Teoravi. The offer was a formality, however. It had become a tradition that Keith would bring Lance home after one of their weekends in the city. Their rides together were typically when they spent their best quality time, before returning to their busy lives. Lance looked forward to it. He was mildly resentful that this time around, Dax would be joining them. He said goodbye to them as well, and headed back to his hotel to get ready. 

. . .

Lance appeared at Teoravi’s door with a nice bottle of sparkling mineral water, some condoms, and water-based lube. He thought it would be funny if he held all the items in his arms as they greeted him, so he did that. They were predictably enthused.

“Humans are so innovative! Using water as both a carbonated beverage and a sexual lubricant! Come in!” 

In the natural light of the setting sun through the window, Teoravi looked even more breathtaking than they had the night before. Lance was finally able to get a good look at their features. Their Indigo hair, which Lance had thought was braided, actually hung down in tight cylindrical bundles, almost like dreadlocks, but with much more fluid freedom of movement. When the sun hit their hair, it shone almost iridescent. Their irises were black and reflective, taking up most of the space in their eyes. Their lips were the same turquoise as their skin, but plump and defined enough to be a striking feature on their face. Their jaw was angular and strong, their neck slender and long, their arms were sinewy, elegant. Lance noticed that they had a very light dusting of arm hair, that was almost translucent, but shimmered like glitter when the light reflected off it. Teoravi was wearing what looked like a fitted, flexible leather cuirass, a thick belt with hoops for holding swords, no doubt, and black harem pants that were looser on top, and fitted at the bottom. They were barefoot. 

Lance was kind of awestruck. This was certainly strange, in a wonderful kind of way. But the strangest part was that Teoravi was looking at him with the same dumbfounded expression. They stared at one another in silence for a minute, Lance still clutching the carbonated water, condoms, and lube, and eventually started grinning.

“You look fucking amazing, Ravi” Lance began, leaving his inhibitions at the door. “You’re insanely beautiful.”

“You are indeed a sight to behold, Lance.” Teoravi purred, equally appreciative. “I had not realized your skin would be so warm-toned. And I have never seen blue eyes like yours up close. They almost look like my skin!” Teoravi giggled, taking a step forward. They raised a languid hand and cupped his cheek. “Your marks are glowing, it is fascinating.”

Lance jumped, his expression souring. He shot a hand up to his face. _Why did they always do this at the weirdest fucking moments_. 

He realized, he had nothing to hide.

“Yeah, they pick the weirdest fucking moments to do that.” He laughed. Teoravi did as well. Their eyes remained fixed on each others’. 

After a beat, Teoravi linked arms with Lance and led him to the bedroom. They sat down on the bed, and Lance dropped his gifts on the ground. Teoravi held his hands with their left hand, and scratched his scalp with their right. His eyes fluttered shut and he leaned his head into their touch. He felt their lips meeting his neck, leaving soft, gentle kisses down to his collarbone. He moaned, softly, shamelessly. 

“What do you want to do?” He asked after a moment, his eyes opening. “What do you like doing?”

Teoravi smiled thoughtfully, and took several moments to consider the question. “I do appreciate being asked about my preferences. I was hoping to um…” They faltered slightly, rubbing the back of their neck. 

Lance found himself reaching a hand behind their neck and gently massaging his fingers in, allowing Teoravi to relax. They hummed appreciatively. 

After a second, Teoravi looked at him sharply, and tackled him to the mattress, sporting a mischievous smirk. His arms were pinned over his head, his legs parted, with Teoravi pressing themselves between them, the full weight of their torso resting on his. They leaned their face into his ear, nipping it lightly. He found himself completely engulfed in the moment, unable to think about anything other than the feeling of his companion’s body against his. He sighed, deeply. 

“I want to fuck you, Lance. Only if you want that as well.”

Lance’s eyes jolted open. “What?”

Teoravi bolted upright on to their knees. “I am sorry, was that too aggressive?” They looked panicked. 

Lance reached a hand out to their forearm. “No, no it’s okay! That was… that was the hottest thing ever.” He surprised himself, but he felt sure, confident. “I — I’ve honestly never done that before.” This wasn’t something he normally did, not at all. But it felt so incredibly right in the moment, that he found the words escaping his mouth without a second thought. “But I’m okay with that, I would love to do that with you. I trust you.”

Teoravi blinked and relaxed. “Oh good. I suppose you might want to go to the bathroom to prepare yourself.” They smiled. “I will await your return.” 

Lance nodded and smiled, but was suddenly extremely aware of the fact that he had never done this before, and he had no idea what “preparing” himself meant. As he walked towards the bathroom, he felt his heart leaping hard and harder in his chest as his confusion mounted. Once he reached it, he locked the door and sat on the edge of the tub, his hands gripping his hair. _What the fuck am I supposed to do?_

He could feel the panic mounting, and he tried breathing to calm himself down. It worked, sort of, but didn’t answer any of the questions he had swirling in his brain. He decided to do what he normally did in situations where he felt completely and utterly in over his head. He phoned a friend. 

Keith picked up after only two rings. Lance breathed a heavy sigh of relief. 

“Hey, man,” he said, his voice trembling slightly. 

_“Hey? Are you ok?”_

“Yeah I’m fine, I’m just, kinda, uh”

_“Lance? Do you need me to come get you, did something go wrong?”_

“No! No, everything’s going great, actually. Really amazing. Top notch. It’s just —”

_“Spit it out.”_

Lance breathed once, reminding himself that this was Keith, who he trusted with his life, who had already been there for him in a dating crisis.

“Ravi wants to fuck me and I’m really down but I have no clue what I’m doing and they sent me into the bathroom to ‘prepare’ myself but I DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS?” He whispered aggressively into the receiver. “ _What does it mean, Keith!?_ ”

Silence. And then —

 _“Lance… What the fuck?”_ Normally, he’d be offended. But Keith’s tone sounded like he was smiling, in the same way he had when he caught Hunk, Pidge, and himself looking at anatomical diagrams at the bar. 

_“Why are you calling me, of all people?”_

“Who else would I call, KEITH?! I’m not calling Shiro, that would be so awkward, and I’m not calling Veronica cause that’s extra weird.”

_“Alright, well, what about Pidge?”_

“Pidge doesn’t do sex, Keith! She doesn’t know _what it’s like_!”

 _“Okay, okay,”_ Keith sighed. _“What do you want to know?”_

“WHAT DOES ‘PREPARE MYSELF’ MEAN!? What should I be preparing for? What’s it gonna be like?”

_“Okay… how, uh, _detailed_ do you want me to get.”_

“Tell me everything. No holds barred. Knowledge is power, and all that.”

_“Okay, well you need to clean your asshole.”_

Lance let out an indignant squak, cupping his hand over his mouth.

_“What the fuck were you expecting! It’s anal, that’s where it goes.”_

Lance shut his eyes and inhaled sharply. “Okay, how do I clean it.”

_“Like you normally would in the shower, just go and give it a good clean with some soap and water, and make sure everything else down there is clean too. You don’t need to go super far up, just take care of the opening.”_

“Okay, okay,” Lance furrowed his brow, processing this information. 

_“Do you take regular shits?”_

“KEITH, WHAT?” He could hear his friend struggling to contain his laughter on the other end now.

_“Okay, I’m gonna assume you do cause of all the fresh produce at the farm. We can move on. Anything else?”_

“Okay. Uh, will it hurt?”

Keith paused for a moment. 

_“It doesn’t have to. It can, if you’re not ready. But if you spend a lot of time warming up with Ravi it should go fine. I assume they’ve done that before.”_

“What about when we, like, do it?”

_“It might feel a bit odd at first, since it’s a new feeling. But you get used to it, especially if you’re relaxed and you push out. Try starting on top, that way you have more control. And use more lube than you think you need.”_

Lance hung on his every word, and found his features contorting into a stupid, lopsided smile. 

_“And Lance?”_

“Yeah?”

_“Don’t do anything you don’t wanna do. You can always stop at any time.”_

Lance exhaled a shaky breath. He was so glad Keith couldn’t see his sappy-ass expression. 

_“Are you feeling better?”_

“Yeah, I really am. Thank you Keith.”

_“You can do this, I know you can. You’re the most adaptable person I know and you know how to ask for what you want.”_

Lance laughed, his heart feeling incredibly full. He was lucky, so lucky, to have Keith as a friend. 

“This helps a lot, buddy. Thank you.”

_“You’re welcome, Lance.”_

They stayed on the phone for a few second longer, in silence. Lance wasn’t sure what else there was to say, but he didn’t want to say goodbye just yet. 

_“Uh, Lance? I gotta go. Bye”_ The line went dead. Lance looked at his phone, still smiling and sighed. He got up, and started taking off his clothes, turning the shower head on. 

. . .

_Ohmygod. Shit. Quiznak. Fuck._

Lance lay on the bed, panting, unable to formulate coherent words. His eyes were wide open, but he couldn’t register what he was looking at. Next to him, Teoravi got up from the bed and peeled off a condom, smiling from ear to ear. After tossing it out, they returned to the bed with a cloth and began cleaning Lance up, while stroking his hair. 

“Did you enjoy yourself?”

“Holy fuck.” Lance turned his head towards them, his expression unwavering. Teoravi chuckled. “That was incredible. Best thing ever.” He smiled giddily. 

“I am glad. Your friend Keith gave you very good advice, I am sure it helped.”

“Wha — WHAT?”

“I heard your conversation with your friend, Keith. Was I not meant to listen?” Teoravi cocked their head to the side. 

“The — the whole thing?”

“Yes. They must be very fond of you, your friend. They clearly care greatly about your wellbeing.” 

“How did you even hear what he was saying?”

“Oh, I suppose the Dalari must have stronger hearing than Humans. We are quite known for our ability to listen at long ranges.” Teoravi smiled cheerfully, and resumed cleaning him up. 

This was… fine, honestly. Clearly Ravi wasn’t judging. And they were right — Keith’s advice did help a whole lot. 

“Hey, uh, Ravi? Wanna do that again in a couple hours?”

“Of course, Lance! In the meantime we could open the carbonated Earth water and have a nice chat.” 

“I would love that,” Lance smiled appreciatively. He reached up and dragged Teoravi’s face down, locking his lips with theirs. 

. . .

Keith’s ship pulled up in front of the hotel. Lance got up from a bench, picking up his backpack, and tried to calm the completely embarrassing dreamy expression plastered all over his face. 

Between his and Teoravi’s bouts of sexual activity, they spent a few hours discussing Human and Dalari customs while passing the bottle of mineral water back and forth in bed. Ravi was initially put off by the carbonation in the water, unable to drink more than a tiny sip at a time without scrunching up their face adorably. After a few tries, however, they grew to appreciate the texture, as well as the subtle tang of mineral salts. 

Lance learned that the Dalari mainly fight for sport and sustenance, rarely if ever killing among their own. They were particularly adept hunters, and needed to be, given that much of their planet’s wildlife was large and threatening. The Galra occupation had changed things, however. Their people were forced to take up arms against another intelligent race, something came with a very steep learning curve. It was a great cause of conflict for Teoravi, who was never comfortable killing Galra, regardless of how they had enslaved their planet. Lance empathized with their struggle, he, too, having wrestled with accepting the same fact. 

Teoravi thought his family was small, in comparison to their own. They found it interesting that Lance only lived with blood relatives, their monogamous partners, and children. Back on Illium, it was most common to live in large communes of around 20 to 30 people, where individuals who were of age were free to explore romantic and sexual relationships with whomever they wished, often two or more people at a time. While children lived with one or both of their birth parents until they were of age, all adults in the commune were responsible for raising them. Lance pointed out that his family operated in almost a similar fashion, minus the free love. He had not only been raised by his parents back in Cárdenas, but also by his grandparents and his older siblings. Now that his brother Marco had kids, the whole family was involved in raising them on his uncle’s farm. 

It had become clear, after a lot of talking, that Lance and Teoravi were not looking for the same kind of romantic relationship. Lance wanted a partner to live monogamously with and raise a family, while Ravi wanted to date individuals who were comfortable with the traditional Dalari commune arrangement. It didn’t stop them, however, from greatly enjoying the night. Lance hadn’t felt more in the moment, more free, with anyone he had ever been with. Though their sex had been absolutely mind-blowing, Lance found himself appreciating their budding friendship even more. He knew that their time together would be cut short given his impending return to the farm and Teoravi’s return to Illium, but he wanted his new companion to remain in his life, no matter how infrequent their communication might be. 

After they slept together a third time, Lance told Ravi he was happy he had met them. They made him want to be more honest with himself and what he wanted. Teoravi told him that they had initially approached him because they wanted a night of debauchery and pleasure with an acclaimed hero. They did not expect, however, to build the foundation for a friendship in the process. Their farewell was more emotional than anticipated, pulling one another into a long, tight hug, and promising to be in touch. Lance said he hoped to visit their commune one day, and Teoravi asked to be invited to his monogamous wedding.

Lance sifted through the night’s events as he climbed up into Keith’s ship. After a moment, he thought of Allura, and how although he grown and moved on from the heartbreak of her sacrifice, he found himself wishing that they could have had a lifelong friendship as well. He hoped that Keith had been right years before, when he said he believed she was somewhere watching over him, proud of his growth. He walked into the cockpit. 

“Hey, man. Thanks so much for last night, it really helped.” Lance sighed, plopping himself down in the co-pilot’s seat. He looked around for a moment. “Where’s Dax?”

Keith didn’t answer right away. When Lance turned to face him, he was staring down, fiddling with the ship’s controls, a frustrated furrow in his brow. “He’s not coming with us, he went back to Daibazaal early.”

“Oh?” Lance raised his eyebrows. “Why? Is he okay?”

Keith closed his eyes and exhaled sharply. “He’s fine, we just… we had an — argument last night.” He abruptly took hold of the controls and began their ascent into the sky. 

“Oh, man, that sucks, uh.” Lance ran a hand through his hair, concerned. “I’m sorry to hear that. Do… you wanna talk about it?”

“No.” 

“You sure?” Lance leaned forward. “You were there for me last night, I’d do the same for you.”

Keith sighed, remaining silent. They sat quietly for a few minutes as he piloted them into Earth’s Stratosphere. 

“Dax didn’t like that I had stayed on the phone with you last night,” Keith said finally. His hands were gripping the controls, knuckles white. “He thought it was inappropriate.”

Lance sat back, his eyes wide. “I’m — I’m so sorry. I didn’t think… didn’t mean to make him uncomfortable.”

“You have nothing to apologize for. You were panicked and you needed help, there’s nothing wrong with that.” Keith’s words were even, measured. “I don't think things are working out with him.”

“Keith! Don’t say that,” Lance’s breath hitched in his throat, guilt bubbling up in his gut. “You guys can fix it, I’m sure, I can talk to him —”

“No, Lance.” Keith was firm, final. “This isn’t a new issue, it didn’t come up overnight. Dax doesn’t really understand that my friends are my family, and that I _want_ to be there for you guys when I need to be.”

He shifted his gaze over to Lance, who was sitting upright, nodding slowly, brows downturned in sympathy. 

Keith turned on the autopilot and let go of the controls and leaned back in his chair. He sighed. 

“He told me that I don’t respect his boundaries, and it’s true. I don’t. But I also don’t think he has any right to dictate the boundaries in my friendships, especially when I’ve only been with him for three phoebes.”

Lance opened his mouth, but didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t feeling much better about the whole ordeal, but he tried to internalize that Keith didn’t want him feeling guilty. He tried, but it wasn’t exactly working. 

“Keith —”

“It’s okay. Dax deserves someone who will put what he needs first. It’s just not gonna be me.”

Lance inhaled sharply. _This was… unexpected. They had seemed happy together._

“I’m sorry —”

“Don’t be sorry, it’s not your fault.” Keith was looking at him now, his eyes burning into Lance’s with conviction. It was hard to argue with him in this state. 

“I’m not sorry, like, because I did anything wrong. I’m just sorry cause this sucks. Breakups suck.” Lance was, indeed, sorry that he had played some part in this, no matter how small, no matter what Keith said. But he felt for Keith, in this moment. It was hard knowing that someone important to you would no longer hold the same place in your life.

Keith huffed, unsmiling. “They do suck. This is my first.”

“Aww, you’re all grown up!” Lance lightly smacked him on the back. “I still win though.”

Keith looked up at him with a look of confusion. He couldn’t help but notice that the corner of his friend’s mouth twitched up into a small smile. 

“I win for worst breakup. My ex walked into the afterlife to join her ex and her dad.”

“That’s,” Keith’s lip twitched, “really fucking dark, Lance. What the hell?”

Lance crossed his arms and shrugged. “I use humor to cope! You should try it sometime.” He winked.

Keith was full-on smiling now, a light chuckle escaping his mouth, an expression of pure disbelief at his own appreciation for Lance’s lunacy. “You’re nuts.”

“You love it.” 

Keith’s expression dropped the slightest bit. If Lance hadn’t been staring at him directly in the eyes, he probably wouldn’t have noticed. But he did, and it was enough to make the air thicken around them, for him to feel a noticeable tension. He didn’t understand it, one moment he was making his buddy feel better about a breakup, the next —

Keith coughed once, twice, and turned towards the ship’s controls. He turned off the autopilot and began manually steering. “So,” he started, his voice the tiniest fraction of an octave higher than usual. “How was your date?”

“It was good! Very good!” Lance’s voice was definitely multiple octaves higher than usual, he turned towards the windshield, sweating. _What is happening?_

Keith looked at him, as if expecting him to elaborate. He ran a hand through his hair. 

“Th-they were really nice! We had a lot of fun! Apparently Ravi heard our ENTIRE conversation from the other room with their freaky Dalari hearing, but they didn’t care at all so that was fun!”

“Great! Glad to hear it.”

“So great!”

“We’re landing now, buckle up, Lance.”

“What? I’m already —” 

Keith shot him an evil grin, his hands gripping the controls tightly.

“Oh my god Keith, no. Not this time. Not again.”

“Yes.”

“Nuh — AAAAAH!” Keith abruptly turned the ship into a 90-degree, spinning nosedive and sent them plummeting towards the ground. Lance could barely hear that Keith had let out a laugh through gritted teeth over his own screams. You would think that after doing this nearly every single time he gave him a lift home, Lance would have become used to it by now. He hadn’t though. It scared the shit out of him every single time. 

. . .

Lance finished installing his half-birthday present from Pidge: a lock for his bedroom door. She normally didn’t care about his half birthday, but Lance suspected she had grown tired of listening to him complain about how he was scared to jack off in his own room. She had mailed it over with a note that said, “ _To Lance, for when you need to rub one out. I still can’t believe you live in an old-ass 20th century house without door locks. It makes me sad. I’m trusting that you have your own headphones to watch porn with, because two half-birthday presents would be excessive. Pidge_ ”

He waited for his family to go to sleep before getting comfortable in bed, wearing only a loose pyjama shirt and socks. It was his first night with a lock on his bedroom door — he didn’t need pants. 

Lance felt like a dumb, horny teenager again as he excitedly scrolled through some porn, his headphones already positioned in his ears. He didn’t really know what he wanted to watch, there was too much to choose from. He kept opening videos and watching only a minute or two before clicking away to another. After a few minutes, he turned his phone screen off and lay back in his bed. To be honest, he kind of just wanted to think about the last time he had sex a month prior, with Ravi. 

Instead, His mind drifted to his conversation with Pidge, right before his date with the Dalari. She had mentioned something about being surprised that he would be interested in someone who wasn’t a woman. Being with Teoravi hadn’t felt very different than being with a woman, aside from the fact that he was the one on the receiving end of things. It had felt just as instinctual as every other time he had shared someone’s bed. Not one part had felt weird or strange, especially since his friends had been so supportive and helpful.

There was something else that was bothering him, though. Something that he was a little too apprehensive to address. Yet, as much as he was reluctant, his mind meandered there anyway. 

Pidge had said that she thought he was “really aggressively straight.” He knew he liked girls, he always had, so he was straight. Right? What else could he be? Sleeping with one alien who didn’t identify with any part of the gender spectrum didn’t really change who he was. And even then, it’s not like he liked guys —

Lance froze, his eyes widening, unblinking. For a moment, his mind went completely blank. The only thing he was aware of was the deafening sound of his own pulse. And then, he remembered what his sister had said to him, over three years before, on the Atlas. 

_To be honest, it’s not like I’ve known my whole life._

_I woke up to the fact that some of my friendships with my female friends reflected that._

_My feelings for them were more complicated._

Something snapped. In a split second, his mind was reeling. 

_He could feel the warmth radiating from Hunk’s side, the comforting weight of his arm around his shoulders, and Lance didn’t feel so alone anymore._

_At their last sleepover before Lance left for the Garrison, Mateo wordlessly pulled him into an embrace, bringing Lance’s arm around him and pulling his hand to his chest._

_His gaze shifted slightly lower, noticing Keith’s grey t-shirt was weighed down with sweat, clinging to his frame._

_You look fucking amazing, Ravi. You’re insanely beautiful._

It all made sense, now.

He hadn’t known his whole life. But he kept finding himself drawn to his best friends in a way that made him feel warm and loved when he was near them, happy when he made them laugh, and envious when they were out of his reach. 

He breathed. 

_Alright._

He rolled onto his side and closed his eyes.

_I guess this is a thing._

_Looks like I have more in common with Veronica than I thought._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was heavily inspired by every alien/human romance arc in Mass Effect. For those curious, here's a [clip](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLWzmeI1QWc) to illustrate.


	5. Keith

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance has some things to talk about. He reconnects with an old friend, gets a couple surprise visits, and has a _weird_ night out with Keith.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This ended up being a massive behemoth of a chapter. It was a fun ride though, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing. 
> 
> Slight content warning: There is casual cannabis use at the beginning of this chapter. I'm from Canada and it's legal here, but I'm just throwing this in, just in case. 
> 
> Also, I decided to add an epilogue to this story, so there will be more! We're almost there.

Lance pulled his small ship up in front of a quaint beach house on the Cuban coast near Santa Cruz del Norte. He hadn’t been here in 10 years, not since Mateo brought him to celebrate his 13th birthday, a year before Lance joined the Garrison. Once he emerged from the ship, he took in the sight of the familiar brick walls painted seafoam green, the terra cotta roof, and the weathered hammock hanging out front. He turned around to take in the view of the sea, so blue that the horizon line was barely visible against the blue of the clear sky. 

He had missed the beach after spending most of his time at the farm, or visiting the Paladins out of town. Most of Lance’s family had relocated from Cárdenas after the war, save his brother Luis who lived still lived at their old home with his wife, Mercedes. Marco had always wanted to raise his kids on their uncle’s farm, and the war served as a reminder that time was limited, giving him the push he needed. Naturally, his parents had followed them, not wanting to miss their grandkids growing up. Lance did love being around his family, despite the lack of privacy, because it felt like a stable home, a luxury he didn’t exactly have a few years prior while in space. Regardless of how much he loved the farm, however, he missed the coast he grew up on, and the familiar smell of the surf and sound of the wind rustling through palm leaves. It felt like home, in a different kind of way. 

After the war, Lance was worried about Mateo. They hadn’t spoken in years, and he didn’t exactly have the means of contacting him given how the Galra had destroyed most communication networks across the world. Once the internet was back up and running, Lance stalled. He knew he would eventually seek out Mateo, to make sure he had survived, but he never pushed himself to do so as if waiting for the right moment. 

That moment had come, two weeks prior. As Lance lay in his bed the morning after coming to terms with his sexuality, he knew there was one person on Earth who had likely known years before he did. Or at least, had an inkling. He had never let himself consider his friendship with Mateo as anything other than platonic. Yet as he lay in bed, mulling over how his life would have looked different had he known sooner, he couldn’t help but know in his heart that Mateo had always been his first person. They had never dated, never kissed, but they had shared a love that was pure and unadulterated in the way only two kids could love one another. It had never been about sex — they were too young and green for that — it had been about wanting to spend every moment together, about being partners in life. 

Lance knew Mateo felt the same way. He knew it in his gut, remembering their conversation on the beach when they were 17. That conversation was Mateo’s confession. It was also his closure. But Lance never had closure, because he never allowed himself to open that door in the first place, to accept that they had been more than friends. This was why he found himself in front of Mateo’s family’s beach house, on a bright February afternoon. He had come for closure, but also for the possibility of beginning a new chapter, where he and his old friend could be new friends once again. 

Lance made his way up the walkway. He was only halfway to the house when the door swung open, and Mateo emerged smiling from ear to ear. Lance couldn’t help himself — he started running towards his old friend, who did the same. They met at the base of the steps and Lance wrapped Mateo in a bear hug, feeling tears well up in his eyes. A couple weeks prior, he hadn’t known whether his friend was alive. Now, he was real and solid in front of him. 

“I missed you, man,” Lance breathed, muffled against Mateo’s strong shoulder. He pulled back and saw that Mateo had been blinking back tears as well. His hair was cropped short, his face sported a beard, and his frame was taller and broader than at 17. He looked different, but his eyes, his face, even his athletic clothing, were the same as they always were. It took him a few moments to speak.

“I thought you had forgotten about me, with everything going on.” Mateo’s smile faltered slightly. “You’ve been through so much, I’m sure.”

“Don’t be stupid, Mat.” Lance gave his arm a light shove. “I never forgot. I just needed some time.”

Mateo smiled at Lance softly, leading him to the porch. He left to get them some beers from the fridge. Lance took out some of his farm-grown weed and delicately rolled it as Mateo came back outside. He rarely smoked alone, and reserved the stuff for intimate conversations with good friends. 

Mateo handed him a cold bottle of homemade beer, prompting Lance to ask about when he had picked up that hobby. They eased into an easy conversation about brewing, that turned into one about growing crops, that eventually evolved into how their lives were going. Lance learned that Mateo had just finished his undergraduate degree in computer science, having taken a few years off when the war hit. His family had stayed at the beach house, mostly, as the area was relatively unaffected by the war. The moment he learned that Lance was among the Paladins fighting the war, he followed their every move closely, feeling personally invested and relieved that Lance was alive. 

“I knew you didn’t just disappear. People kept saying you and the others probably went off and did something stupid in the desert that got you killed, but I knew they were wrong.”

“Thank you, Mat.” Lance smiled. It felt good to know his friend had believed in him from afar. 

“Not wrong about doing something stupid, but about whether you were alive.” Mateo chuckled.

“Depends on your definition of ‘stupid,’ but I _did_ jump into a giant robot cat that took me to a different galaxy.” Lance crossed his arms, grinning.

“Sounds just like you.” Mateo grinned back. 

Lance told Mateo about some of his favourite moments in space. He recounted the shows they took on tour to gain support for the coalition, Kaltenecker and the space mall, reprogramming that combat sentry, and other less heavy moments. He spoke of the friendships he made, and how proud he was of the work Keith, Hunk, Pidge, Shiro, and Veronica were doing. When he mentioned Allura, he faltered. Mateo noticed immediately. He knew about how the Altean princess had sacrificed her life to save all realities, but he didn’t know everything about her and Lance’s relationship. 

“She was my girlfriend, at the end,” Lance said, looking at his hands, absentmindedly fiddling with the joint he had rolled earlier. “We were together, for the last couple months of the war. She gave me these marks right before she left.”

He heard Mateo inhale sharply. “I’m so sorry, Lance. That must have been hard.”

Lance sighed. “It was. It was hard for all of us, not just me.” He raised his head to look at Mateo, who held his gaze. “I’m not sure if we would have stayed together after the war. Honestly, we had different priorities. But I know that we would have still been close anyway. And I’m most sad about losing out on that.”

Mateo nodded. Lance took a deep breath. 

“That’s part of the reason I wanted to see you again.”

Mateo raised his eyebrows. “Oh?”

Lance wasn’t entirely sure how to formulate what he wanted to say. He looked back down at his hands. 

“I want to keep my friends close. I don’t want to lose any more important friendships.”

“That means a lot, man.”

“That’s not all though.” Lance sighed, calming his nerves. “I loved you, when we were kids. You were my world.”

For a few moments, he could only hear the sound of the sea in front of them. He didn’t dare look up at his friend just yet. There was more that needed to be said. 

“I didn’t know it at the time, because I was young and I didn’t think very hard about what I felt. I didn’t know I could love boys —” Lance’s voice cracked. He could feel a weight that nearly consumed his thoughts for two weeks slowly leave his shoulders. 

“I wanted to say I’m sorry, for not knowing sooner.”

“Lance, no.” Mateo’s voice was firm. He looked up to see his friend’s face, his gaze soft, intense. “You weren’t ready. Don’t apologize for not being ready, or for not knowing. These aren’t the kind of things you learn about yourself overnight.”

Lance nodded, swallowing the lump in his throat. His mouth twitched.

“I loved you too. But I didn’t know it either. We were both idiots.” Mateo smiled, and let out a short chuckle. 

Lance felt his eyes welling up with tears, relief flooding him. He laughed once, twice, and suddenly doubled over into an uncontrollable fit of giggles. Mateo joined in.

After a minute, they composed themselves. Lance wiped a stray tear from his eye, smiling. He looked over at Mateo fondly.

“It felt really good to say that. Thanks, Mat.”

“Anytime. It felt good for me as well.”

Lance offered him the joint in his hand and Mateo lit it with a match. They passed it back in forth for a few minutes in comfortable silence. 

“You’re the first person I told about — about me liking guys.” Lance said after a moment. He thought it would feel stranger to finally say it out loud.

“I’m honored.” Mateo shot him a soft smile. “I told my sister first, years ago. It was around when I last saw you, the same summer.”

“She take it well?”

“Of course.”

Lance thought of his own sister. “Veronica told me she was bi three years ago. She gave me this long speech about how she realized ‘cause she kept getting feelings for her friends and I just sat there and nodded and didn’t make the connection with my own life.” Lance grinned. “I was kinda dense, in retrospect.”

Mateo laughed. “Any other friends you’re thinking of, besides me?”

Lance felt blood rush to his cheeks. He had spent most of his energy the past couple weeks thinking about getting in touch with Mateo, and avoiding the thought of his current friends. He wasn’t sure what would happen if he opened that Pandora’s box. 

“Maybe? I don’t know, uh.” He was sweating. It wasn’t because of the heat. 

“Don’t stress, it’s okay. But if there’s someone you’re thinking of, maybe you should tell them. You never know, it could be the best decision of your life.”

It was unfair, honestly, that Mateo could still see right through him. Even after so many years. 

. . .

“Lance! Look who came to visit!”

He had only just finished walking down the stairs before Veronica was blocking his path. Lance’s eyes were barely open, his loose, old t-shirt askew. Veronica raised an eyebrow. It was a rare sight, seeing her brother like this at home. Usually, he was out of bed at the crack of dawn and helping with breakfast by 0700 hours sharp, well-rested and eager. On this day, everyone seemed to be already outside, either working or enjoying the sunshine, yet he was groggy and barely awake. She knew he saved debauchery and late nights for trips out of town. Lance was sure she’d be asking questions. 

“Are you hungover? Did you _pilot that damn ship_ drunk?”

 _There it is._ It had been a month since his sister’s last weekend visit, and it was almost as if her absence made her more prone to monitoring his every move when she was home. He knew it was out of love, and he kind of enjoyed it, but it was annoying. Nice, but still annoying. 

“V, no, I’m just tired. I was out late.”

“ _Out?_ ” Veronica crossed her arms. “We’re in the middle of nowhere!”

Lance dragged a hand dramatically down his face, pulling at his features. “Nice to see you too. Also it’s Saturday, and I’m a grown-ass man. Leave me alone.”

“Who were you with?” Her features pulled into a smirk. “Did someone have a date?”

“ _Why are you like this?_ ” 

“Come on, _hermanito_ ,” she whined, “I just wanna know what you’re up to! I never see you anymore!” She still called him that, all the time, even though he was over half a head taller than her now. 

“Funny, I feel like you’re ALWAYS HERE even though you don’t LIVE HERE.” The irritation was apparent in his voice. Lance was running on six hours of sleep, despite waking up so late. 

“You’re avoiding the question.” The smirk was back. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“How was your date?”

“IT WASN’T A DATE, _MIERDA_! I was at Mateo’s in Santa Cruz! And _no_ , I didn’t fly drunk we just talked super late.”

Veronica stared at him.

“You went to see Mateo? He’s okay?”

“Yeah, he’s really good.” Lance sighed, breaking into an exhausted smile. “The whole family’s okay, they’re all doing great. Now, can I please, _please_ make myself some fucking coffee?” Veronica nodded, her features softened. She followed her brother towards the kitchen. 

As spent as he was, Lance had no regrets. He and Mateo had continued talking, nonstop, for hours into the night and early morning. They took a couple breaks from sitting on the porch to make food, walk on the beach, swim a little, and pass a ball back and forth. But they talked nearly the whole time. It wasn’t the loaded, emotional kind of talking that had characterized the earlier part of their conversation. After Lance got what he had to say off his chest, they spent the rest of their time catching up, telling more stories, discussing how Earth had changed. It was the effortless kind of talking that can only happen between two people who don’t need to think twice about what to do in each others’ presence. It was something Lance wasn’t sure would have come naturally to them after spending so much time apart. But it had, and it was nice. 

They were completely different people than they had been when they were kids, obviously. But it was fun to get to know the new, adult, bearded Mateo — who was passionate about growing his own hops for brewing and coding generative art in his spare time. He had a kitten named Jason, which was a really fucking weird name for a kitten, in Lance’s opinion. He also learned that Mateo had a partner named Kevin, who worked in construction and volunteered his skills for a disaster relief organization. He sounded hot, Lance commented. Mateo showed him a picture on his phone, confirming that he was, indeed, pretty hot. 

When Lance showed him pictures of the Paladins, Mateo told him he had hot friends. Lance didn’t really remember his response, but it was something along the lines of “ _NO I DON’T. WHERE?_ ” which didn’t really make sense, because it was obvious where they were looking. Mateo didn’t push it, but did give him knowing looks whenever they came back up in conversation.

To be honest, during his flight home, Lance’s mind couldn't help but drift back to his hot friends. He cursed Mateo for nudging that door open. He had been avoiding it so well. What difference did it make, anyway? He was the same person he was before realizing he found guys attractive, so what did it matter that yes, maybe sometimes, he found his friends nice to look at? Even though for a long time he didn’t really process it that way and just thought he’d get giddy or flushed or distracted when around them for _other_ reasons? Like… what’s another reason to get distracted by your friends when you’re supposed to be doing something else? What are —

“Morning, Lance.”

“SH-SHIRO?” 

“Surprise!” Veronica squeezed Lance’s shoulders from behind. “Someone decided to join me this weekend.”

Shiro set down his mug and shot him a warm smile. “Good to see you, it’s been a while.”

“Yeah! Yeah, so good to see you!” Lance tried his best to remain normal, collected, but it wasn’t working. Because here’s the thing; he had been thinking about talking to Shiro about his recent _conclusions_ about how he identified, but he also wasn’t sure how to go about it given that he knew as soon as he saw his old leader that he’d be reminded of how grizzled he had become, and how Lance had basically idolized him since childhood probably slightly due to his looks. But only slightly, that was only one, small, repressed part of it. Now that Lance had opened that door, he was suddenly aware of the years of repression, of repeatedly telling himself, _hey, it’s normal to have a hero you aspire to be like one day, totally normal to have their poster in front of your bed so you can see it when you wake up_ , and he felt his tongue slowly retreat down his throat until he forgot how to speak. 

_Hands. Need something to do with my hands_. He walked over to the coffee machine.

“Oh, I made coffee already! It’s still fresh.” Veronica grabbed his shoulder gently and led him to the kitchen table. “Just sit and catch up! I’ll worry about making breakfast.”

Lance sat in his chair, not entirely sure whether his face betrayed his absolute bewilderment. He didn’t want to have to “come out” to everyone he knew. That would make it seem like a _big deal_ and he didn’t want it to be a big deal, he just wanted to exist. But he also wanted to talk about it. A lot. Because talking about it with Mateo had been so freeing, and because it was so on his mind lately that it almost seemed difficult to set aside in favour of other topics of conversation. He was vaguely aware of Veronica setting a cup of hot coffee in front of him as he grasped at something to say. Luckily, Shiro spoke first.

“Lance, uh, you alright?”

“What?” his head snapped up, meeting Shiro’s gaze. Dang, he was definitely hot. That wasn’t helping.

“Are you okay?” Shiro furrowed his brow. And _great_ , now Veronica was abandoning breakfast to walk over next to Shiro and look at him with her own puzzled, concerned look. 

“ _Hermanito?_ ”

Okay, so now both his gay idols were just sitting in front of him expectantly, thinking he was probably having a stroke or something because he _still_ hasn’t said anything. _What an absolute fucking mess._

Lance hunched over and buried his face in his hands. “It’s too fucking early for this,” he mumbled between his fingers. He shook his head and took a deep breath. He had to say something.

“So, uh. Yes. I’m fine.” he stared at his coffee for one, two seconds before slowly allowing himself to look at Shiro and Veronica, who were absolutely _not_ having it. 

“You’re not fine. What’s wrong?” his sister crossed her arms, adopting that look of skepticism she got when she knew he was lying. Shiro, on the other hand, looked concerned and terrified, as if Lance were on the verge of exploding. 

“Uh, okay.” _Okay, okay. You can do this._ “What are, uh, the chances of everyone coming back home soon? Like, how alone are we?”

“They won’t be home for a bit,” Veronica pursed her lips into a fine line. “They’re at the market.”

“Okay.” _Jesus Christ, why is this so hard_ “I’m sorry, don’t freak out, I’m fine really. I just —” Veronica raised an eyebrow. He looked at his sister in the eye, and the words came spilling out of him. Her words. “I’m just — I’m a little nervous about what I’m going to say.”

Veronica’s face contorted, going from worry, to understanding, to elation in two seconds flat. _She got it. She fucking got it._

“Oh my god, _hermanito_ , come here.” Her arms were immediately around him. He buried his face in her neck, feeling young again, like a six-year-old boy who hadn’t yet known what it was like to be embarrassed by your sister hugging you in public. 

“I love you so much, Lance, I knew there was a reason you were always my favourite.” Veronica sounded so goddamn happy, he felt his chest about to burst. He was also unreasonably proud of his clever “saying something without actually saying anything specific” manoeuvre. _Nice one, Lance._

Shiro cleared his throat. Both siblings turned their heads towards him, Lance’s face still half-buried in his sister’s shoulder. _Oh right._

“So, uh, anyone care to tell me what’s going on?”

Veronica pulled off of him and sat herself down at the table. She was still smiling wide, holding onto his forearm. Lance felt lighter already. He smiled, bashful, and took a sip of his coffee before looking at Shiro. 

“I, uh, am attracted to men…?” He said it like it was a question. _What the hell, why is this so weird_. He needed to find a better way of doing this.

Shiro’s lip quivered. Lance could swear he saw a tear welling up in his eye. _Oh my god, I made Shiro cry._ He looked like he was toeing the fine line between “keeping it together” and “bawling mess,” and he wasn’t doing a very good job at the former. 

“I’M FINE,” Shiro said, after a moment, hiding his face behind his mug. 

“Shiro, we love you, but pull yourself together. I wanna hear my brother talk about this.”

“Okay,” Shiro took a deep breath, settling his mug down once again, blinking. He shot Lance a warm smile. “You just… you remind me of myself a little. I also had no clue how to tell people.”

Lance’s breath hitched, the corner of his mouth tugging upward, involuntarily. “Okay, okay thank you, ‘cause, like — how the _hell_ am I supposed to go around telling people this? It’s so weird.”

“Was it weird when you told Mateo? Last night?” He shot Veronica a look. _Of course._ She knew. She knew he didn’t just go over to Mateo’s out of nowhere. How the hell did she always just _know_ things? Was he that obvious?

“Uh, no, actually.” Lance was thoughtful for a moment. “But it was kind of like, he already knew? You know? Or at least I thought he did, so it wasn’t awkward.”

“I knew it,” Veronica smirked. “I knew you two were in love when you were little preteens, it was so obvious. The whole co-parenting that cat thing?” 

“Jesus, V.” Lance took a deep breath. He had run out of fucks to give. “Okay, yeah, I was totally in love with him. There, you happy?” his sister squeaked, squeezing his forearm. Shiro sniffled, and Veronica shot him a look of warning, before turning back to her brother.

“Please continue, Lance.”

“Uh,” Lance said, realizing he wasn’t even sure about what he was continuing. “What exactly do you want to know?”

“I just want to know when you figured it out, if you want to share. I’m just excited for you.” She offered him a look of genuine care and affection. Shiro had visibly relaxed. 

“Take your time, Lance. You also don’t need to tell us anything if you don’t want to.” 

“Well,” Lance rubbed the back of his neck with the hand his sister wasn’t pinning down. “I kind of realized a few weeks ago. I was just, like, mulling things over in my head and it clicked. It wasn’t that exciting.”

“Was there a _person_ that helped you come to this conclusion?” Veronica raised an eyebrow. Lance knew what she meant, knew she was teasing, but he didn’t take the bait.

“Yeah, something Pidge said actually did. I had a date with this Dalari person and she said she was surprised I could be interested in someone who wasn’t a woman.”

“Wait, wait, wait, hold up.” Veronica added another hand to his forearm, gripping tighter now. “You had a date with a ‘Dalari person?’”

“The Dalari are agender, Veronica,” Shiro smiled, knowingly. 

“I know that, Shiro, I mean, you had a _date_? And you didn’t tell me about it?”

Lance felt heat rising to his forehead. “Well, I mean we had, like, one date. I don’t need to tell you about _every_ date I go on.”

“Of course you do!” She swatted his arm. “How was it? Where did you take them?”

“Uhh,” Lance paused. He wasn’t sure this was the kind of date Veronica would appreciate knowing about. “We kinda… didn’t go anywhere? ‘Cause you know, they can’t eat human food anyway, so we just stayed in the room…” he trailed off, wincing. 

Shiro was grinning proudly now, his arms crossed over his front. Veronica, however, looked absolutely horrified. 

“FORGET I ASKED,” she let go of his arm and put her hands up in defeat, getting up and turning back towards Lance’s unmade breakfast. Shiro chuckled. 

“So, Lance, are you going to talk to the other Paladins about this?”

“I mean, no? Can I not? I don’t know.” He buried his face in his hands. “It’s not a big deal, I don’t want it to be a big deal.”

“It doesn’t have to be. But trust me, it’ll feel good to be open about who you are. Especially with your close friends.”

Lance sighed. He rested his chin in his hands. “Yeah, I know.” He heard Veronica crack a couple eggs, then stir them up with a fork. Shiro picked up his mug again.

“Keith will be happy.”

“WHA—” Lance barely got a word out before the sharp metal _CLANG_ of a frying pan hitting the floor reverberated through the room. Both men turned to Veronica, who was bending down, feigning innocence as she retrieved it from the ground. It was enough to distract them for a moment, before the rest of Lance’s family came in through the front door.

. . .

Lance spent the next few weeks ignoring what Shiro had said, pretending it didn’t happen. He decided to go about his business as usual — greenhouse in the morning, fields in the afternoon, family meals in between. He texted his friends a bit, but it was a busy time of year for all of them. Pidge was developing some sort of drone that melted walls, Hunk had a month of diplomatic dinners to host, and Keith was — well, doing what he usually did. Rebuilding war-torn colonies with his crew of half-galra lesbians. The usual.

March break was fast approaching. Veronica would be coming to visit, _again_ , for her week off from the Garrison. Lance’s parents would be going out of town with Marco, Susana, and the kids to visit Rachel in Boston. He and Veronica were tasked with holding down the fort, making sure the farm didn’t fall apart in everyone’s absence. She had mentioned something about Acxa coming too, which he didn’t mind at all. Veronica was less inclined to breathe down his neck when her girlfriend was around. 

. . .

Lance was preening a bed of rutabaga in the greenhouse. He was avoiding Veronica, who was busy fretting over the house, awaiting Acxa’s arrival. It was endearing, honestly, to see his sister care so much about making their home comfortable for her girlfriend. Acxa seemed like the kind of person who wasn’t particularly used to comfort in general, so he was sure she would appreciate it. 

“LANCE! We have visitors!” Veronica popped her head through the window of the greenhouse. 

“Coming, V.” He wiped a soil-dusted hand over his forehead and stood up, looking down to survey the damage. Sure enough, he had dirt marks all over his white t-shirt, denim button-down, and jeans. He knew Acxa wouldn’t give two shits whether he was dirty, so he let it — wait, _visitors? Plural?_

“Uhh, Veronica! What ‘visitors?!’” he called out after her, leaving the greenhouse. 

“Acxa and Keith, come on!” she was already halfway to the house. 

Lance froze in place, dazed. He hadn’t been expecting this. If he had, he probably would have mentally prepared more. It’s not that he _needed_ mental preparation to see his friend, it was just — stuff. Stuff happened since he last saw Keith. Nothing major, you know, aside from suddenly self-identifying as bisexual after not doing that your entire life. But Keith didn’t really need to know that, right? Keith didn’t know that, in this moment. So they could just go on like they usually do when Keith spontaneously visits the farm once or twice a year. They could let Kosmo roam around in the juniberry fields, or he could show Keith all his new turnips. It didn’t have to be different. 

But Lance knew it would be. Because he could barely contain himself when Shiro had come over, because even though he wasn’t ready and he had no intention of spilling the beans, his entire fucking transparent demeanor had done it for him. He walked towards the house slowly, a lump forming in his throat. He was good at a lot of things, that was something he had accepted now, as an adult. But he was a fucking terrible liar, and he was awful at keeping his thoughts to himself. And it was this knowledge that made his slow walk toward the house feel like strolling to the edge of a cliff. 

Look, Lance had hot friends. He knew that already. They were all good-looking. But the difference between Keith and the rest of them was that as much as Lance would rather throw a childish fit than admit it, Keith had a way of undoing him, of opening him up, raw and vulnerable, and letting him spill his guts on the floor only to help him pick them back up. He always went to Keith first when he faltered, when he needed reassurance. And Keith had done the same with him, in his own roundabout sort of way. 

Lance thought of their last in-person conversation, where Keith told him about Dax and how they weren’t working, and how he knew Keith didn’t want to talk about it _at all_ but he still did. How even though he looked like he was on the verge of exploding, he still laughed at Lance’s dark nonsense jokes, and let them calm him down. Lance would sometimes replay that laugh in his head when he found himself missing him. And afterward, he’d try to forget he did that ‘cause it’s kinda weird. But now that he _knew_ about himself, and he finally accepted that guys were an option, he couldn’t help but wonder if maybe Keith was also, you know... an _option_. 

_Fuck. This is not good._

Lance shook his head, approaching the back of the house. _Nope, no, no, not happening._ He repeated it in his head like a mantra. He was psyching himself up too much, he needed to calm back down. He was about to see his friend, who he had easily seen upwards of a thousand times, who he had lived with in space for fuck’s sake. He knew what to expect, knew what he looked like, he wasn’t going to be surprised. This was normal. He was just gonna tell Keith that he’s bi as casually as possible, and then they’re gonna go look at the turnips. That was the new plan. 

Veronica entered the house through the back door. Lance followed her, almost in a daze, and hugged Acxa hello. “Where’s Keith?” he asked them. They said he was on the front porch, watching Kosmo in the field. 

When he got to the front door, he stopped, putting a hand on the glass pane and his other on the knob. He didn’t turn it though, knowing that the sound would signal to Keith that he had arrived. Instead, he wanted another moment to collect himself. He allowed his gaze to wander over to his friend, who was leaning his elbows on the railing of the deck, one leg bent, one straight. He was wearing his bulky brown leather jacket, that wasn’t quite bulky enough to hide the way his back arched slightly. His hair had gotten _long_. Lance knew he had been tying it up, but from this angle he could see that there was much more of it than the last time he paid attention. And it was still messily framing his face, like always. Lance smirked. He wasn’t afraid of his facing his friend, he realized. Keith’s presence calmed him like nothing else. He decided to channel Ravi, and not give any more fucks. He opened the door.

Keith stood straighter, and turned his body to meet Lance’s. “Hey,” he said. Lance noticed the small smile, the softened eyelids. He didn’t feel fear or apprehension anymore. But he felt something else.

“Hey, man,” Lance returned the smile. His was bigger than Keith’s, it always was, but that was just how their faces worked. He noticed Keith was already holding two open beers. Veronica must have given them to him. She must have known they would be having _the talk_ and wanted to help. He wouldn’t put it past her. 

Keith held one out and Lance grabbed it from him, joining his friend against the railing. He dared to put himself closer to Keith than usual, their thighs almost brushing together. It was test, he told himself, to see how it felt. They clinked their bottles together and took a swig. It felt nice, Lance decided. 

“I need to tell you something.” He looked down at his feet. He may have decided to give no fucks today, but that didn’t mean he knew what he was doing. “Before we, you know, start hanging out or whatever.”

Keith raised an eyebrow. He didn’t look concerned, but Lance knew that was because he himself didn’t look concerned either. 

“Yeah, so I’m uh, bi.” Lance coughed. It hadn’t come out as smoothly as he had hoped, and yep, this was _definitely still a weird thing_. 

“Oh, that’s cool.” He looked up at Keith, who was taking another sip of his beer, eyebrows raised, his eyes making contact with Lance’s. If they hadn’t been standing so close, Lance might not have noticed the faint redness that rose in his cheeks. But it also could just be the heat. Keith was wearing a fucking leather jacket in Cuba, _the idiot_. It was probably that. 

“You, uh, don’t seem all that phased.”

Keith looked down at his beer, swirling it. He smiled. “I mean, after the whole Ravi thing I thought it might just be a matter of time.”

“Oh.” Lance didn’t expect that. But he welcomed it. This was easier than the last two times he had this conversation. 

“Do… you want to talk about it?” Keith offered. 

“Not… not really? I don’t really think it’s a big deal.” Keith met his gaze again. “Right?”

“It isn’t, no.” Keith’s brow furrowed in thought. “Doesn’t mean it’s not important, though.”

“Huh?”

“I mean,” Keith sighed. He turned around and leaned his elbows on the railing again. “Who you’re attracted to, it shapes how you relate to the world. It’s an important part of who you are, and making sense of it is important. That’s how it was for me, anyway.”

This gave Lance pause. In all the time he had known Keith, he had treated his sexuality as a given. Someone had teased him about running off with Allura that one time, and he had said he was gay and that was that. No one ever mentioned it again, and he was under the impression Keith didn’t think it was a big deal, not important. 

Keith took another sip. “I was raised in a bunch of religious homes when I was a kid. They didn’t really talk about this kind of thing, even though it’s so normal now everywhere else. It wasn’t wrong, per se, they just didn't talk about it. But the other kids could feel I was different, so we were always at odds. Shiro was the first person I met who was like me.”

 _Oh. That made a lot of sense, actually._ Lance tried to picture Keith as a kid. He knew what he was like at the Garrison: angry, hostile, unwilling to connect. It was probably for a multitude of reasons, like being orphaned, being fucking half alien and not knowing it. But his sexuality was a factor too, it was a piece of Keith’s puzzle. Lance wondered where that piece fit in his own life. He didn’t know, this was all very new. 

“I didn’t know that. But thanks — for telling me,” Lance took a sip of his own beer. “I guess I don’t really know why it’s important yet.”

“You will.” Keith slid him a smile, before turning back to the field. 

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Kosmo rolled around, crushing some of the juniberries. He looked like he was in heaven. It was cute.

“He’s so fucking big,” Lance said after a moment. “Literally enormous.”

Keith laughed. “He’s taller than me now. He still wants to cuddle but he takes up most of the bed. Sometimes I just end up sleeping on the floor with him.”

Lance grinned. “Sylvio still comes to my bed sometimes when he has bad dreams. He’s like, almost 10 now, though, and he takes up way more space than before. The Espinosas have long-ass limbs.”

“I know.” Keith was smirking, Lance could hear it. 

“Hey!” his hand made contact with Keith’s shoulder, a playful shove. “I bet you enjoyed being taller than me for, what, five minutes?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Keith was still smirking. 

. . .

“You boys should go out.” Veronica said it like it was an order, like they didn’t have a choice. 

“Uh, wh — what?” 

“Rizavi, Griffin, and Kinkade are going to a club in the city tonight,” Acxa clarified, her voice even, measured. It was weird to hear Acxa talk about clubbing. “Veronica and I were thinking of joining. You should come.”

Okay, that’s not exactly what it sounded like the first time. It had sounded like Veronica had been telling them to —

“Could be fun.” Keith shrugged. His attention returned to his plate of beans and roasted root vegetables. “Lance?”

“Yeah, could be fun,” he echoed. He hadn’t been to a club in ages, it wasn’t always his cup of tea. He liked dancing, sure, but he always ended up losing something valuable, like his phone or his keys.

“Come on, Lance! I’ll be your purse.” Veronica could officially read his mind, he decided. “You’ll see James! Your old buddy!”

“We’re not old buddies, we were roommates. We barely know each other.”

“Psshh,” Veronica brushed him off. “He’s way more relaxed and fun now. He, like, started meditating or some shit and went on a road trip with Rizavi and now he likes playing the banjo.”

“Huh. Interesting.”

“Fucking unlikely, is what it is,” Keith interjected, smiling. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

“It’s true! Oh, and Lance? It’s a _gay_ club.” Veronica wiggled her eyebrows at him. Lance rolled his eyes. 

“Okay?! So?”

“So, you can make out with boys! Or watch boys make out, I don’t know. Or do you prefer big blue aliens? ‘Cause I’m sure there will be some there, too.”

“ _V, WHAT THE HELL_ ,” Lance bit back in an aggressive whisper, as if Acxa and Keith couldn’t hear them. Keith let out an amused huff, his mouth full of food. 

“Anyway, Keith,” Veronica ignored her brother. “How long are you planning on staying?”

“Uh, I don’t know?” He shrugged, swallowing his food. “Acxa and I both took the week off, but I was just kinda winging it.”

“Great, you’ll stay in the spare room. We can set up the big camping mattress on the floor so Kosmo will fit with you.” Again, Veronica made it seem like he had no choice. 

“Uh, okay?” Keith shrugged. Lance tried to suppress his excitement at the prospect of hanging out with Keith for a week.

“We’ll leave in a couple hours. Lance, I hope you shower. You’re covered in dirt.”

“I was showing Keith the turnips!”

“They were cool.” Keith smiled, his mouth full once again.

“Okay,” Veronica rolled her eyes. “You’re still showering.” 

. . .

Kosmo teleported them to the club. Keith explained that he didn’t like using Kosmo to get around all the time, because his wolf would sometimes get too eager and start teleporting him to places he definitely did _not_ want to be. But this night was an exception, as they didn’t have a ship that could fit four people. They also all wanted to drink, so there was that. Keith said they could trust Kosmo to wait patiently nearby until they were done, and he’d call him with his little space dog whistle. The plan almost made sense to Lance, almost, but he couldn’t wrap his head around what a 300 pound, 7 foot tall space wolf would be doing while “waiting patiently” for his owner to finish getting shitfaced. It was all very insane, and very Keith, but he seemed to have done this before. Lance decided to trust him.

They entered the club, which wasn’t packed yet. The lighting was mostly red, and the dance floor was surrounded by some raised platforms with poles. A few couples danced together on the floor, one or two of them kissing. Lance thought he spotted a Dalari. _Huh_. 

“Hey, friends!” Rizavi called, jumping off a barstool and skipping toward them. She was followed by Kinkade, who looked exactly the same as Lance remembered, and James, who had _bleached hair. What the fuck?_

“Hey roomie,” James grinned wide and wrapped Lance in a bear hug. Lance tentatively hugged him back, still confused. He felt James squeeze even tighter. He smelled like weed. 

“Hey, uh, you’re different,” Lance blurted before he could hold himself back. To his relief, James only laughed. 

“Quitting the Garrison will do that,” he pulled away, grinning. 

“You quit? Really?”

“Took an indefinite leave, more like. I could still go back.” James shrugged, relaxed. He was wearing khaki shorts, a linen shirt, and fucking _birkenstocks_ , a far cry from the pressed uniforms he remembered him wearing. 

“Why?” Lance couldn’t help asking.

“I got tired of having a stick up my ass, I guess.” James smacked Lance on the shoulder and let out a good-natured chuckle. Lance looked over at Keith, who was staring at James like he had grown a new head.

“Now he gets other things stuck up his ass!” Rizavi chimed in. Keith choked. To Lance’s surprise, once again, James let out more hearty laughter.

“So, uh, you sure you didn’t, like, switch places with some alternate reality Griffin?” Lance couldn’t get over it.

“I wonder the same thing, constantly.” Kinkade replied seriously. His arms crossed. 

“I smoked a lot of opium a year ago, so who knows.” James grinned again. This whole spectacle had apparently become too much for Keith, who was now speaking to the Unilu bartender. Lance excused himself and joined his friend. 

“Soo, uh, what the fuck, amirite?” Lance leaned back on the bar.

“I literally don’t know.” Keith chuckled. “Here.” He handed Lance two shots of an unfamiliar, iridescent liquid. 

“What’s that?”

“It’s a Galra spirit. It’s strong. We’re gonna need it, it’s gonna be a weird night.” Keith grinned. “They’re both for you.”

“Are you trying to get me drunk, Keith?” Lance raised an eyebrow, his mouth curling into a smirk.

“I’m trying to get us both drunk. I can’t listen to James for a minute longer, sober.”

They clinked their glasses together, and pounded their shots back. 

. . .

“YASSSS, _HERMANITO_ , WORK THAT POLE!”

“Yeah, Lance!”

“Woooooo!”

. . .

“I’m juss’ saying, iss’ more like an animal than a plant. Like, iss’ not jus’ in bread, iss’ in _everything_.”

“ _Even me? Is it in me?_ ”

“Even in you, man. There’s yeast in you, too.”

. . .

“I use thiss one when I’m alone, cause it has this suction thingy on the bottom.”

“Thass so smart.”

“Yeah. And I have thiss one, n’ it has like, 15 settings.

“Wow.”

. . .

“RAVI! HELP!”

“You could not have picked a worse time to visit! This is peak sectopod season!”

“IT HAS MY LEG!”

“Calm down! They can smell fear!”

. . .

“N’ then this giant insect thing tried to eat us, and Ravi had to stab it with this big double-sided sword.”

“You guys are so gone, what the hell were you doing? Eat.”

“Hunk, you’re so nice.”

“Yeah, you’re so gen’rous.”

“Eat.”

. . .

“I miss Allura, Kosmo.”

“Me three.” 

. . .

“Paladins? How in the heavens —”

“Darling, what is — oh my.”

“I just found them here.”

“They’re passed out?”

“Help me put them in the guest chambers. _Now_.”

. . .

“ _Can I kiss you?_ ”

“ _No, yer drunk._ ”

“ _Later?_ ”

“ _Maybe._ ”

. . .

Lance stirred. He let his hands brush over the soft, silken sheets. His face was nearly buried in the pillow, which was plush and soft and made him completely unwilling to open his eyes and wake up. He could feel the sun on his face, and could faintly hear what sounded like birds chirping outside. He rolled over, reaching to grip more of the sheets, but instead, his hand met a mop of messy hair. His eyes jolted open.

Keith was lying on his stomach, his head completely off his pillow. His mouth was open slightly. Lance felt himself panicking, and quickly raised the sheets to take a peek underneath. _Phew_. They were both fully clothed, wearing the same things they wore last night. 

_Last night_. Ugh. Lance closed his eyes again and brought his hands to his face. He honest to God couldn’t remember anything that happened off the top of his pounding, aching head. He didn’t even remember where they were.

_Wait. Where the hell were they?_

He opened his eyes again, reluctantly. The room was bright with sunlight. It was a gorgeous room. Everything was shades of pastel, with gold accents. It looked vaguely Altean, in the way the windows and furniture were shaped. _What the hell?_

“Lance?” Keith stirred, raising his head a little and opening one eye. “Where are we?”

“Huh?” Lance started turning to Keith, but his eyes caught on Kosmo, who was sitting in the corner of the room chewing something purple. 

“What’s Kosmo got there?”

“Huh?” Keith pushed himself up and turned to his wolf. His eyes narrowed, before bulging open in realization. “KOSMO, NO!”

Keith scrambled to his feet towards his pet. Kosmo whined. 

“DROP IT NOW,” Keith warned. Kosmo did, reluctantly. Keith cradled the purple thing in his hands, trying to shield it from Lance’s view. He failed.

“Uh, Keith? Is that a purple dild —”

“NO.”

“So it’s yours?” Lance raised an eyebrow. 

Keith’s chest heaved with every breath. His eyes scanned the unfamiliar room, taking in the otherworldly decor, the window, the bed.

“Lance, where the hell are we?”

“I have no fucking clue, Keith. I have no idea.”

“Kosmo brought us here, probably. _Fuck_ , this keeps happening when I let him take me somewhere.”

“What happens?”

“Things get… out of hand.” Keith winced. “Like, we end up somewhere… _weird_.”

“WHAT? How many times has this happened?” Lance stared at his friend, who was still clutching that dildo. 

“Like, twice. The first time, I went out with Shiro and I woke up on the moon.”

“WHAT THE FUCK? Like, Luna? Earth’s moon? How did you not die?”

“It was inside the base! We weren’t outside!”

“And the second time?”

Keith shuddered.

“WHERE DID YOU GO THE SECOND TIME, KEITH?”

“I, uh, was out with Dax and I woke up in the Quantum Abyss. On a space whale. Dax wasn’t there. I think Kosmo wanted to visit home or something.”

Lance stared at Keith, incredulous. A second passed. Two. 

“WHY DIDN’T YOU MENTION THIS WHEN WE WENT OUT LAST NIGHT?”

“I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE OKAY! Last time I tried it nothing weird happened! He just brought me back to my apartment on Daibazaal!”

Lance pinched the bridge of his nose, his eyes shut. He took a deep, shaky breath. “Alright, alright. So… what do you do to get home?”

“I, uh, just ask him to bring me home.”

“So we can just do that now?” Lance looked up, expectantly.

“Well,” Keith’s grip on the dildo loosened. He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand. “Don’t you wanna, like, find out where we are? You know, just for fun?”

Lance stared at him. “Are you insane? You’re insane.”

“So?” Keith was smiling now. “Come on, Lance, it’ll be fun.”

“I’m sorry, KEITH, I’m not some Doctor Who-type Time Lord like you are, apparently! THIS IS ALL VERY NEW TO ME!”

“I mean, I never travelled through time, yet. And when I woke up on the moon I knew where I was. And on the space whale too. This is like, the first time I don’t know where Kosmo brought me.” Keith shrugged. “It’s kinda cool.”

“IT’S FUCKING NUTS! Why didn’t you ever mention this happening to me, or Hunk, or Pidge?”

“I don’t know!” Keith sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Honestly, I didn’t want you to think I was crazy?”

“I ALREADY THINK YOU’RE CRAZY BECAUSE YOU DON’T WANT TO JUST HEAD HOME LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!”

There was a knock at the door. Both men froze, turning to look at it, sharply. Another knock.

“Hello?” A soft voice called from the other side. Lance knew that voice. 

“Keith? Lance?” Except the way she said his name sounded a bit like “ _Lonce_ ” and there was only one person in the whole fucking universe that said his name like that.

Lance looked at Keith, who was pale as a ghost. 

“Are you okay? I heard yelling.”

They didn’t answer. They kept staring at the door.

“I’m coming in,” the voice said. 

The door opened. Allura stood on the other side, looking radiantly beautiful. She tilted her head and smiled. “It’s good to see you both again.”

. . .

It took a solid ten minutes before Lance and Keith were able to speak. Everything felt like some sort of weird fever dream, and they were in complete shock. Allura seemed to understand this, so she wrapped them each in a warm blanket and led them down a flight of ornate marble stairs, to a large picturesque dining room where some food awaited them. Kosmo didn’t really seem to care about whatever the hell was happening, and resumed chewing Keith’s dildo when he dropped it on the ground. 

At the table, they just kept staring at Allura, at the food, at the room, and back at Allura, who was sitting across from them, a sympathetic smile on her face. 

“I understand that this might be quite shocking to you both.” They flinched when she spoke. “It was certainly a surprise for me, when I found you on the front porch last night. I did not think I would ever speak to you again.”

Lance gulped. He had too many emotional responses firing in his head at once. He felt happy, ecstatic even, to see Allura again. So much so that he kind of wanted to cry. But he was also more confused than he ever had been in his entire fucking life. He was also questioning the nature of life and death, you know, as one does. And it was all just… _a lot_. Too much even, for one hungover morning. He was also really thirsty, and was maybe still a little bit drunk. 

“Uh,” he finally said. Keith’s head snapped towards him, a similar look of shock on his face. Allura perked up, her smile widening.

“I’m thirsty,” Lance said finally, after a few seconds of silence. “Also, like, _what the fuck is happening?_ ”

Allura sighed. She blinked and a tall glass of orange juice appeared in front of his plate. A second materialized next to Keith’s. Both men stared at their glasses, mouths agape and dry.

“Unfortunately, I don’t exactly know how you ended up here, but I suspect Kosmo may have been involved. You were both a little roughed up when you arrived, and you reeked of alcohol. I tended to your wounds —”

“WOUNDS?” Lance shrieked. He started absentmindedly feeling himself up.

“Yes,” Allura furrowed her brow. “Your leg appeared to have been bitten by something, Lance. And Keith, you had a nasty gash in your arm. I made sure both your injuries were healed and you were clean before leaving you in the guest quarters.”

Lance blinked. He noticed Keith staring at a crescent-shaped mark on his arm, one that certainly wasn’t there before. Lance blinked again, staring at Allura. After a moment, he broke down.

“Holy shit, Allura, I’m so sorry!” He buried his face in his hands, weeping. “I — we, haven’t like, _seen_ you in forever, and like — I didn’t know if you were even _alive_ , and the first fucking thing I say is about how I’m th — thirsty!” He felt warm tears leaking through his fingers, fully aware that he probably looked like an absolute blubbering wreck. 

In a moment, Allura was standing behind them, her arms wrapping around their shoulders. Lance peeked through his fingers, and noticed Keith was crying as well, in his own quiet, subtle way. Allura rubbed their shoulders and squeezed.

“There there, it’s alright.” She looked down at them, a gentle expression on her face. “Why don’t you eat and drink, I have much explaining to do.” She let go and returned to the other side of the table, sitting down. Lance looked at his plate, which was packed with eggs, baked beans, a sausage, and roasted potatoes. He glanced at Keith’s plate, which also included eggs and potatoes, but paired with breakfast links, bacon, and blood pudding. How did Allura know that Keith preferred a nearly entirely carnivorous diet? 

His head snapped up to look at Allura once again. “Are you a god?” He asked it innocently, as if this was an entirely normal thing to say to your ex.

“Holy shit,” Keith gulped next to him. “I was right.”

Allura smiled, looking genuinely relieved that they had started talking again. “Do you remember Bob, the host of that game show?”

Lance abandoned his fork and ran his fingers into his hair, gripping it close to his scalp. His eyes widened. “What the fuck, Keith, _how_?”

“I understand that you may have had your suspicions about what happened when I restored all realities. You were right, I did not die. I was brought here.”

“Where’s ‘here’, exactly?” Keith asked.

“It is a reality entirely of our own making. Myself, the Paladins of old, Lotor, and Honerva. Here, we are able to oversee all realities, capable of knowing everything that has ever happened.”

“And also, apparently, knowing our breakfast preferences?” Lance raised an eyebrow.

“Precisely.”

“That’s…” Lance looked at his food, at Keith, and back at Allura. “That’s a lot to take in, honestly.”

“It is.” Allura smiled. “But there isn’t much more to it. We are not able to interfere in the lives of those who live in your reality, or any other for that matter. We cannot predict the future. We are simply here, all-knowing, and all-seeing. Except when, you know, when want a break and prefer doing mundane tasks like tending to the garden.” She smiled. “It’s quite a nice life, honestly, even though I do greatly miss the friends I left behind. But it appears that perhaps you two have found a way to bridge that gap.”

“Huh,” Lance said. He felt pressure in his eyes again. “I really missed you, Allura. We all did.”

“We did,” Keith added. He sniffed. 

Allura reached across the table and took Keith’s hand in her left, and Lance’s in her right. She squeezed them reassuringly. “I missed you as well, even though I could see you from afar. I’m proud of you both, you’ve come so far. You’ve grown into such admirable men, and I am ever so grateful to have met you.”

They were all crying, now. Lance and Keith got up, this time, and circled the table to engulf Allura in a group hug. 

“Oh my, you’re both so tall!” Allura chuckled between sniffs. After a few minutes, they let go, and returned to their seats. Lance’s face was fixed with a permanent smile, one he couldn’t suppress even if he tried. Keith was smiling too, in his own way that mostly involved his eyes. It was nice. Everything felt weirdly normal again, in a way that Lance hadn’t experienced since Allura had gone. Like they were just three old friends reunited for the first time in years. He didn’t feel an echo of the romantic feelings he once had for Allura, he only felt gratitude for being able to speak to her once again.

Keith and Lance relaxed, finally digging into their breakfasts, which oddly, did not get cold. After a moment, they noticed an awkwardly perched figure standing in the doorway. Lance stopped chewing and narrowed his eyes. 

“Lotor?”

“Hello,” Lotor replied. He shuffled awkwardly, joining them at the table. Lance felt Keith tense next to him. 

Allura cleared her throat, looking at nothing in particular. “Lotor and I, are… hmm —”

“Living together?” Keith spoke through clenched teeth, still chewing his food. 

Allura looked at him and softened. “Yes. We reconciled after we arrived here. It took some time, but yes, now we are partners.”

Lance shifted his gaze back to Lotor, who looked extremely uncomfortable. He was watching Keith, who appeared to be internally fuming, aggressively chewing his meat. Lotor cleared his throat. 

“I understand that we did not part on the best of terms, Paladins, what with you leaving me to melt in the rift and all —” Allura kicked him under the table. He paused to collect himself, his brow furrowing.

“I admit to what I have done, with the colony. I committed many immoral and unethical acts to undermine my father’s rule, but you must understand that I spent the greater part of ten thousand years trying to loosen his grip on the known universe.”

Everyone was silent for a moment. Lance’s gaze shifted from Lotor to Keith, who had crossed his arms, his brow furrowed. 

“Alright.” Keith said after a moment. He returned to his breakfast.

“Uh, that’s it? You were like, the most invested in being mad about this.” Lance furrowed his brow. 

“I know,” Keith said between mouthfuls. “But honestly, I didn’t fight Zarkon for ten thousand years. Can’t judge, really. And Lotor doesn’t seem like he enjoyed harvesting Alteans for their quintessence, or whatever.”

“No,” Lotor shifted uncomfortably. “No, I did not particularly enjoy it.”

“If Allura’s over it, so am I.”

“Huh,” Lance sat back in his chair. “Alright.”

“Good.” Allura clasped her hands together. “Now if you will excuse us, I would love to speak to Lance alone. I believe some things were left unsaid between us, and I would like to set them right.” She stood up and started walking to the next room. 

“Uhhh,” Keith mumbled. He did _not_ seem excited by the prospect of sharing a space with Lotor for the next while. Lotor looked similarly uneasy. 

“Lance? Please.”

“I’m coming,” Lance replied. He wiped his mouth on a napkin and followed her out of the room. 

. . .

They took a stroll through the garden outside Allura’s home. It was a maze of tall hedges, with beds of native Altean flowers lining the path. Lance recognized many of the plants, and made a show of pointing them out. He was stalling, he knew, but he wasn’t sure exactly how to start a conversation with an ex that became a god. Especially since they didn’t exactly have a proper _break up_. He supposed this conversation would become a variation of that, and he wasn’t exactly looking forward to opening old wounds. 

“Oh, uh, that one is a Orrisberry. I planted a few of them at the farm. And that one —”

“Lance,” Allura turned to face him and took his hand in hers. “I must say, I am impressed by your knowledge of Altean botany, but you are stalling.”

Lance sighed. Allura brought her other hand over to cup his. She gave him a reassuring squeeze, meeting his gaze. “I know you took my absence rather well, which is all I could have hoped for.”

Lance smiled. He squeezed her hand back. “It wasn’t easy. I don’t want you to think it was easy.”

“I know.” She beamed. “I simply wanted to say that I agree with you.”

“About what?”

She sighed, looking down, before meeting his gaze once again. “I, too, believe that we would not have remained together after the war. We did, indeed, have different priorities. I regret that we were unable to have this conversation before my departure.”

Lance exhaled dramatically, and grinned. “Great! I’m glad we got that out of the way.”

“Lance,” Allura said, her gaze flattening. “Is that really all you have to say?”

“Look, I…” he avoided her gaze, rubbing a hand down the back of his neck. “I don’t know what else to say, since apparently you already know everything I’ve said.” 

She looked at him a moment, her brow furrowing. She sighed. “I suppose it must be quite odd. I didn’t quite… anticipate how it would be strange for you.”

Lance didn’t want to do this. He had been doing fine. His first and only relationship had ended in circumstances beyond his control — beyond _their_ control— and he was okay with that, because it meant he would never have to see his relationship as good or bad, success or failure. It just _was_ until it wasn’t, through no fault of their own. And he had been content with that. He had speculated, sure, about the _if_ , about what would have happened had things not turned out the way they did. And it was almost easier to accept that they might not have had a future together when he didn’t believe he would ever hear Allura’s side of things. 

Hearing her side of things hurt more than he expected. He had no right to be hurt, she was only echoing his words after all. But it still did. 

“I don’t want to talk about this, you’ve heard everything already.”

“No. We are talking about this.” Her eyes bore into him until he had no choice but to look. She was always good at that. 

“I only know what you have told your family and your friends,” Allura continued. “I don’t know, however, how you made sense of it yourself, on your own. That’s what I want to know, Lance.”

He looked at her for a moment. “We should sit down.” And they did. 

They stayed put in the grass for what could have been minutes or hours, Lance wasn’t sure. Time felt different here, in this weird alternate reality of Allura’s own making. He told her it was easier to accept the end of their relationship because things were ended for them. He didn’t like making decisions, and he didn’t like feeling as if maybe, had he done one thing differently, it would have been better in the end. He wondered what they could have done better, if there was a possibility that things could have worked out in some hypothetical world where Allura hadn’t sacrificed herself to save the universe. Knowing how Allura felt now, he knew the chance was slim. 

He talked for a long while. Afterward, they were silent, Allura mulling over his words. She asked him why he hadn’t been in another relationship since they were together. He said he didn’t know. He didn’t want to be in one, not yet. Which was part of the reason he lived a life where it was difficult to connect with new people.

Lance felt raw, stripped. He hadn’t spoken about this with anyone. He mentioned Ravi, and how connecting with someone had felt good. But he didn’t allow himself to get invested. He didn’t want to, yet. 

“Are you afraid?” she asked him.

Lance scoffed. “Of course I’m fucking _afraid_. I have no clue what I’m doing, I never did.” Allura’s expression soured, as if his bitterness were palatable. “When we were together, I was constantly scared of screwing things up.”

She put a hand on his knee. It was chaste, solid. He looked up at her.

“You never did anything wrong, Lance. You were lovely. It just —” she faltered. 

“It just didn’t work, I get it.” For the first time since they sat down, Lance smiled. “I’m sorry, ‘Lura.”

“Don’t be sorry.” She returned his smile. “And for what it’s worth, I don’t think anyone in particular ever truly knows what they’re doing in a relationship. It’s not about following a script.”

Lance put a hand on hers, squeezing it. “Thank you for listening.”

“Thank you for indulging me. I know you hadn’t wanted to have this conversation.”

“I really didn’t,” Lance grinned. Allura laughed. They stood up and embraced. Lance savoured her strong grip around his arms, on his back. He had forgotten how solid she felt, how easily their bodies fit together. He was reminded of why they were drawn together in the first place. It didn’t sting. It was simply a statement of fact. 

They broke apart and continued walking, remaining comfortably silent for some time. After a few minutes, Allura broke that silence.

“So… I understand that you have had some _revelations_ about yourself recently.” She side-eyed him, smirking.

Lance groaned, dragging a hand down his face. “Yeah, I like dick, apparently.” He was so fucking over this. 

She laughed. “I don’t mean to tease, but I can’t help but notice how you and Keith have grown rather… _close_.”

Lance flushed. He stopped walking. “I know you’re a goddess now, and all, but please stop reading my mind.”

“Lance don’t be silly, I cannot read minds.” 

“But you said —”

“I know what I said. I have only seen you, and how you act when you are together. To be quite honest, I find it rather heartwarming.” She offered him a fond look. 

Lance sighed, exasperated. “Look, I don’t even know yet. I haven’t really… thought about it.”

She raised an eyebrow. He caved.

“Okay I kinda thought about it, but only a really small bit.” He shrugged his shoulders in defeat. “Its not a _thing_ though, it’s too —”

“New?” Allura shot him a knowing look. 

“Yeah.” 

“Perhaps,” Allura pursed her lips, “you are in need of some newness in your life. I understand that you have been quite happy and comfortable in your current living situation. But —”

“But maybe I’m too comfortable?” Lance met her gaze. 

“I understand, believe me. I do not mean to push you to do anything you don’t want to do.”

“But?” Lance smiled. 

“No ‘buts’,” Allura took his hand again. “Trust yourself. You were always good at judgement calls. Don’t let your fear of change get in the way of getting what you want.”

Lance rolled his eyes dramatically. “Fine, _Mom_.”

“Lance,” Allura’s gaze intensified. “We dated. That is _so wrong_.”

Lance chuckled. He knew she had a point. She was too smart for his own good.

. . .

Upon returning to the house, Lance and Allura walked in on the sound of clashing metal and deep grunts. Sure enough, Keith and Lotor were sparring viciously in the parlour, torn pillows scattered on the ground. The moment they noticed Lance and Allura walk in, they stopped and lowered their swords, embarrassed. 

“Well,” Allura began, “I am certainly glad you two found something to do in our absence.”

“I, uh, kinda like Lotor.” Keith shrugged. “He’s cool.” Lotor smirked in response. 

“As much as I have loved welcoming you both into our home, perhaps it is time you returned to your reality. Veronica is very concerned.”

“Oh fuck.” Lance dug his hands into his hair. “She’s gonna murder me, she still has my phone.”

“Now that we know you can travel here with Kosmo, feel free to come visit us whenever you like.” Allura wrapped Keith and Lance in a final hug. “And do bring the others, I have missed them terribly.”

Lance looked over at Lotor, who was still standing in the parlour. “Come on, buddy, bring it in!” He extended a hand toward him. After a moment of shocked silence, Lotor set down his sword and approached, joining in their group hug. 

“It was certainly a… surprise to see you both. But not an unwelcome one. Please visit us again.” Lotor offered them a genuine, heartfelt smile. 

“We will.” Lance grinned back. He turned to Keith. “Uh, buddy? Where to next?”

“We could go back to the farm,” Keith pursed his lips, not quite meeting Lance’s gaze. 

“Or?” Lance smirked.

“Or… we could try to retrace our steps? See what we got up to last night? I don’t really remember much, but we have a lead.”

Lance huffed. “Sounds insane.” His mouth slowly curled into a mischievous smirk. “Let’s do it. What’s our lead?”

Keith grinned back at him. He called Kosmo, who immediately trotted down the stairs toward them. Allura and Lotor shared a look of concern.

Keith looked up at Kosmo, who appeared to have something in his mouth. He extended a hand. “Drop it, boy.” Kosmo whined and gingerly placed the purple dildo in Keith’s gloved hand. He turned to Lance, waving the toy. Allura cringed.

“We’re going to where this came from.” He raised an eyebrow.

Lance cocked his head and crossed his arms. “I’m listening.”

“Daibazaal. My apartment.”

. . .

“WHAT THE FUCK, KEEITH?!” Lance was trying, and failing, to make his way through Keith’s bedroom without stepping on the toys strewn across the floor. There must have been at least a dozen of them. Keith had grabbed a box that had been tipped sideways, and was scrambling to pick them up, his face beet red. 

“WHY DO YOU HAVE A WHOLE BOX?”

“That’s a really personal question, LANCE!” Keith grunted, and resumed picking them up. He grabbed the last one, a light green, glass buttplug, and returned it to the container. He sat down on the bed, setting the box aside. Lance sat next to him, scanning the room. Keith was a minimalist, apparently. He didn’t seem to own much in the way of trinkets or decor, save a strange spiky plant by the window. His bedroom was populated with only a bed with black sheets, an empty desk, a small dresser, and a closet that appeared to house a total of six items. Oh, and the box of toy dicks. 

He turned back to Keith, who had buried his face in his hands. “This is really fucking embarrassing,” he mumbled after a moment. 

Lance furrowed his brow. He tried to remember what had brought them here last night. He vaguely recalled having a conversation with Keith about… _self-stimulation_? Or anal? Or both, apparently. 

“Don’t be, seriously,” Lance said after a moment. Keith looked at him through his fingers. “I’m sorry I freaked out before, I’m just not… used to being around so many of these. I have no privacy, remember?” He offered Keith an apologetic look. “I think we came here because we were talking about this, and you offered to show me your… _collection_ ”

“Uuuuugh,” Keith groaned. “Don’t call it that, that makes it sound weird.” Keith lowered his hands and looked at him, pouting. _Fuck_ , Lance forgot how cute his pout was. He quickly averted his eyes.

“I think you owning an assortment of sex toys is honestly not even that weird at this point,” he added, thoughtfully. “Your pet wolf just brought us to another dimension.” He turned to his friend. Keith was looking at the ground, the hint of a smile on his face. “Embrace it. You’re a fucking freak and it’s great.” 

“Well,” Keith replied after a moment, his eyes shifting to Lance, “I’m not the one who apparently had _questions_ about my _collection_.”

“HEY! Don’t make this about me!” Lance gave Keith’s shoulder a good-natured shove. Keith chuckled, not quite meeting his gaze. His hair hung around his face, obscuring it. 

Lance was suddenly overcome with a near overwhelming urge to see his friend’s face, to brush his hair aside and look at it. He loved when Keith laughed, loved how his usual stoic facade crumbled, his eyes squinting, his smile wide. He wanted to see it happen. Before he could mull over the implications of this spontaneous urge, he had reached out a hand, curling fingers around a lock of Keith’s hair. But his brain soon caught up with him, jerking his hand back, because _woah, what the fuck was that?_

Lance gulped, eyes wide. He found himself frozen, wondering if maybe, if he were lucky enough, Keith hadn’t noticed. But Keith was looking at him now, lips slightly parted, his expression unreadable. Lance quickly realized that for the last several moments, he had forgotten to breathe. He thought he might have heard something in the distance, like the click of a door shutting or the sound of a lock turning, but it was difficult to discern over the sound of his own pounding pulse. 

He cleared his throat. “Hey man, uh, you had something in…” 

“My hair?”

“Your hair.”

“Thanks.”

“So!” Lance cupped a hand on his knee, wracking his brain for a change of subject. He pointed at Keith’s box. “Which one’s your favourite?” He froze, a pursed smile on his face, because if anything were sure to break the tension, it would be pointing out the box of dicks. _Idiot_.

Keith’s head whipped around. He furrowed a brow, as if genuinely appraising the contents of his collection. He pulled out a black, L-shaped device. 

“This one’s cool, it has like, 15 different settings.” He shrugged. Lance… did not expect him to actually go through with it. _Okay. So this is a conversation that’s happening._

“Can I see?” He also fully didn’t understand what was motivating him to keep talking. 

“Yeah,” Keith said, nonchalant. As if this wasn’t weird which, in fairness, it didn’t have to be. They probably had this exact conversation last night anyway. He held the device gingerly, pressing a button on one end with his thumb a couple times. It started vibrating in a soft, syncopated rhythm. Keith chuckled. “This is weirder sober.”

“Wait, wait, hold up! You rememb—” but Lance didn’t manage to get the last word out, as the door to Keith’s bedroom swung open. Keith jolted, muttered a strained “ _shit_ ,” and threw the prostate massager across his bed, covering it with a pillow. 

“Keith. Lance.” Krolia stood above them, arms crossed, holding a small metal pitcher. The vibrations continued faintly, muffled by Keith’s bedding. “What was that?”

Lance felt the blood leave his face, leave his entire body. His mouth dried, looking at Keith desperately. 

“Nothing!” Keith cried, a little too quickly. “H-hey Mom, uh, whatcha doing here?”

“Watering the plants.” She raised an eyebrow. “You said you would be gone all week.” Kosmo whined, distantly, in the other room.

“We um,” Keith looked fruitlessly at Lance for help, as the other man was reminding himself how to inhale and exhale regularly. God, Keith’s mom could be terrifying when she wanted to be. 

To both their surprise, however, Krolia snickered. She walked over to the plant by the window, watered it, and returned to the door. “Let me know if you end up leaving. Goodbye, Keith. Lance.” She shut the door behind her on the way out. 

Lance exhaled violently. Keith grabbed at the vibrating device, turning it off and stuffing it back in his box. He looked at his friend after a moment’s pause, a faint, light sound escaping his throat. It was enough to break the tension, and Lance keeled over onto the ground, cackling maniacally. 

“OH MY GOD, KEEITH!” Lance wheezed between breaths. “THAT WAS FUCKED!”

Keith was laughing now, a full-bodied laugh. Eyes squinting, smile spread across his face. From where he was on the ground, Lance could see all of it. They stayed like that a while, waiting for the laughter to die down. 

“Keeeith.” Lance was lying on the floor now, hands lightly gripping his belly. “We need to get out of here, your dildos are cursed.” He blinked back tears, grinning wildly. 

“Alright.” Keith beamed down at him. “Where to next?”

“Uhh,” Lance rubbed his forehead. “Check your phone, maybe? For clues?” 

Keith shook his head a little, still smiling. He whipped his phone out of his pocket as if drawing a gun from its holster. “Oh,” he said, eyebrows raised. “Missed a call from Hunk.”

Lance squinted. “We saw Hunk last night, I think. Sound familiar?”

“Yeah. I think.” 

“Call him back?”

“Mmm.” Keith tapped at his phone as Lance scrambled up onto the bed. He positioned himself behind Keith, looking over his shoulder. After a couple rings, Hunk’s face appeared on the holoscreen. He did _not_ look pleased. 

“Hey, idiots.” 

“Heeeey, Hunk! Buddy!”

“Mind explaining to me what the hell happened last night?” 

“Actually, uh,” Keith ran a hand through his hair. “We were hoping you could tell us? We’re kinda…”

“Not remembering, exactly.” Lance smiled apologetically.

“Seriously?” Hunk’s stern demeanor faltered a little. “You don’t remember?”

“No? We were, uh —”

“Pretty trashed,” Keith finished. He chuckled.

“Alright,” Hunk replied, furrowing his brow. “Well, you and Kosmo suddenly materialized in the _middle of our living room_ as we were getting ready for bed, and you were covered in mud and drunk out of your skulls.”

Lance cringed. “Oh man. Sorry, buddy.”

“Yeah, Shay freaked out. So did I. But you were also bleeding, so we patched you up best we could and gave you some leftovers to sober you up. It didn’t work exactly.”

“Did we, uh, explain why we were bleeding?” Lance grinned, hopeful.

“Yeah, apparently you visited Ravi on Illium without asking beforehand, and they were in the middle of dealing with an outbreak of some kind of giant insectoid.”

“Wow,” Keith said. “That’s almost…”

“ _Impressive?_ ” Lance smirked. “I knew we were dumbasses but, like, this is a new level of—”

“You are both massive dumbasses.” Hunk raised an eyebrow. “That’s not why I’m angry though. You were both falling asleep after eating, but you disappeared while Shay prepped the guest room. Literally disappeared, without a word. And then we don’t hear from you until now.” 

“Well, uh, funny story actually.” Lance rubbed the back of his neck. “We went to see Allura.”

“What?” Hunk’s eyes widened. “What the hell does that mean?”

“It’s, uh, a lot to explain…?” Hunk looked at Lance like he was losing his mind.

“She didn’t die, Hunk.” Keith sighed. “She ended up in some other reality and now she’s just living there with Lotor and she’s some sort of deity that can see everything that’s ever happened.”

Hunk’s jaw dropped open. Suddenly, Keith’s phone started buzzing, a notification in the corner indicating that Veronica was calling. 

“SHIT, KEITH, ANSWER THAT!” Lance yelled, clawing for the phone. “SORRY HUNK, GOTTA GO!”

“Bye, Hunk! Talk to you later!” Keith muttered, eyes wide, handing the phone to Lance. 

“WHAT THE HELL? DON’T JUST HAN—” and he was gone, replaced by a very close shot of Veronica’s fuming expression. 

“WHERE DID YOU IDIOTS GO LAST NIGHT? AND WHY DIDN’T YOU CALL ME?”

“Hey, V!” Lance was sweating, a pained smile stretched across his cheeks. This was a lot. 

Veronica rubbed a hand on her face, sighing. “I was so fucking worried, _hermanito_! My calls weren’t even going through to Keith’s phone!”

“Look, Veronica,” Keith interjected. “A lot happened last night, okay? We’re fine. We’ll come back like, right now.”

“Yeah, immediately.” 

“See you in a minute.” Keith hung up the phone. He sighed. Lance closed his eyes and slowly dropped his forehead onto Keith’s shoulder, groaning.

“Hey,” Keith started. Lance looked up at his friend, who was somehow, _grinning? What the hell?_

“What the hell, Keith! Everyone’s mad at us!” 

“We’re so dumb,” Keith chuckled. Lance groaned again, face planting back into Keith’s shoulder. He tried not to think about how Keith’s breath just hitched right there. He tried. But he was also too dang tired and overwhelmed to care about appearances. Also, this kinda felt nice. 

“Keeeith,” he said after a moment, words muffled in keith’s jacket. 

“Uh-huh?” Lance ignored the puff of air he could feel against his cheek, no doubt coming from Keith’s mouth. 

“Veronica’s gonna kill me,” Lance added, still muffled. “Hunk’s gonna kill _us_.”

“Hunk would never kill us, Lance.” 

“Mmph,” he kept his face buried in Keith, a little scared of turning his head, opening his eyes. “I don’t wanna go back.”

“I don—, uh” Keith stuttered. Lance could definitely feel his friend’s breath against his hair now. And something _else_ too, almost like… a hand.

Lance jerked his head up, staring at Keith — who had one hand raised, hovering inches from his face. Keith swallowed. “You uh, had something—”

“In my hair?”

“Yeah.”

“Good! Thanks buddy!” Lance forced a terrified smile, shifting his back up straight. He was suddenly cognizant of the fact that he had just _nuzzled_ Keith’s shoulder in Keith’s own bedroom, on his bed, next to his box of dicks. _Wow, Lance. Get a grip._

“Let’s go back,” he said quickly. “Veronica’s worried. It’s, uh, probably time.”

“Yeah,” Keith averted his gaze. “Let’s.” He whistled for Kosmo, who trotted into the room a few seconds later. They grabbed onto his fur, exchanging a brief smile. “Bring us to the farm, boy,” Keith said gently, in his ear. Kosmo barked, and they disappeared in a flash.

. . .

The minute they appeared in front of the Espinosa household, Veronica ran out to greet them. She pulled them into an embrace so tight, so hard, that Lance couldn’t inhale for a minute. Acxa greeted them a moment later, less emotional and more entertained. Apparently, Veronica had wound herself up after Lance and Keith disappeared, truly believing something horrible had happened to them. They had stayed in the city given their ride — Kosmo — had up and left as well. Lance was sorry. He and Keith apologized profusely, but Veronica’s mood shifted once they recounted their eventful morning over some cold post-dinner beers on the porch, under the light of the setting sun. 

“Oh my god, you _freaks_!” She clapped a hand over her face. Acxa let out an amused sigh.

“So, I can’t even say anything about the Allura thing because, _of course_ , Lance, _of course your alien ex became a goddess_. Your life is insane.”

Lance shrugged, grinning. “I know how to pick ‘em.”

“And KEITH?! What the HELL?!” Veronica stared at him, incredulous. 

“What?” Keith asked, innocently.

“I knew it.” Acxa smirked. “I knew Kosmo brought you somewhere unexpected that time you spent your night off with Shiro.”

Keith smiled, sheepish. “He’s trying his best.”

“KEITH!” Veronica interjected. “You’re literally a Time Lord!”

“No, I’m not!” He seemed more bothered than necessary. “I don’t travel through _time_!”

“But your wolf brings you to visit gods in alternate realities, okay.” Veronica was laughing now, sipping her beer. 

“She has a point buddy,” Lance winked at him. Keith reddened.

They stayed outside a little longer, but the past day’s events caught up with them. Veronica and Acxa called it a night, but not before showing Lance and Keith a ridiculous video of Lance pole dancing at the club from the night before. He did a pretty good job, honestly. Lance asked her to send it to him.

As Keith started getting ready for bed, Lance finally went to get his phone. He immediately called Hunk, to apologize for leaving him hanging after dropping a bomb. Keith sat next to him, and he conferenced in Pidge, Shiro, and Coran, and caught them up on his and Keith’s morning at Allura’s. The conversation went by in a blur of emotion. They cried and laughed, sometimes at the same time, and stayed talking for a lot longer than they realized. For once, Allura’s absence in their conversation didn’t dampen it. They knew she could hear them, all of them, and was likely laughing along as well, her heart as full as each of their own. They quickly cleared their calendars for next weekend, and decided it would be a prime time to go visit her as a team. 

When Lance hung up the phone, a stupid grin still plastered on his face, Keith pointed out a notification from Teoravi. 

**T**  
_Hello, Lance. I am quite sorry I was unable to offer you a great show of hospitality, as my people are known for. As I explained earlier, you had the unfortunate luck of scheduling your spontaneous arrival for the height of sectopod season. My commune was on its fifth day of defending our base and we were quite unprepared to host guests. I do not blame you for evacuating so quickly. But do visit again, just please send me a message first to ensure the commune is not under attack by violent insectoids. You may of course bring Keith back as well. We both know how much of a fan I am of them, what with how good their help was when you needed advice before I fucked you —_

“Aaaand we’re not reading this anymore.” Lance threw his phone at the corner of the couch. Keith tried to muffle his laughter, but ended up failing miserably. Lance reddened.

Once Keith calmed down, Lance quickly grabbed his phone and sent Ravi a gracious response. He also opened a message from Kinkade, who had sent him a link to an article about how yeast functions as an important part of one’s digestive system. After articulating a short reply, he sighed, finally put his phone down, and fell back into the couch, closing his eyes. 

“What a fucking day.” He opened one eye to look at Keith, who was lying back in a similar position, stroking Kosmo’s head in his lap, his eyes gazing forward out the window of the farm house. 

“Yeah,” Keith added. He was a man of few words, but his eyes shone bright, content. Lance could tell he was thinking a million things at once. 

They sat like that for a short while. The sun had set hours ago, but the living room was dark, and they could faintly see the field outside. 

“I’m gonna hit the hay, buddy,” Lance said eventually, standing up. “I’m wrecked.”

Keith chuckled. “Inter-dimensional travel will do that to you.” He kept looking out the window. Lance studied his face, and his relaxed, faint smile. 

“Hey,” Lance said, after a moment. Keith looked up to meet his gaze, his hand still scratching behind Kosmo’s ears. “I had fun today.”

Keith smiled, eyes shining. “Me too.”

“And last night, probably. I don’t remember, but most likely.” He grinned.

“Most likely,” Keith added. He looked down at Kosmo, who was now sound asleep. 

Lance lingered a moment longer, unsure of what was keeping him tethered to the spot. “Night then, buddy.”

“Night, Lance.” Keith simpered. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes, apparently unwilling to move from his spot, unwilling to wake Kosmo. It was charming.

Lance smirked to himself and headed upstairs. 

. . .

Lance couldn’t sleep. 

As tired as he was, he lay wide awake, still mulling over the day’s events. He found that he was actually able to remember quite a few bits of the previous night, knowing what went down. He remembered talking to Kinkade about yeast, he remembered the pole dancing. He could recall the sound of Hunk heating up leftovers, and the terror of having one of his legs bitten by a giant bug. He smiled to himself, faintly, content that at least some of the night’s memories didn’t get completely lost in a drunken haze. 

He remembered, after a moment, the feeling of being carried in Allura’s arms into the guest bedroom. He remembered the soft, plush pillows and the silken sheets. How after a night of absolute buffoonery and discomfort, that bed was a very welcome surprise. He even remembered hearing Keith stir next to him, as he drifted in and out of sleep. 

“ _Can I kiss you?”_

 _Holy shit._ Lance pried his eyes open, staring into nothing. He could hear it clearly now, the sound of Keith’s soft, gravely whisper. Keith had definitely, _definitely_ , said _that_. While they were in Allura’s guest bed, at the very end of the night. 

“ _No._ ”

They definitely didn’t kiss, Lance was sure of it. At that point in the night, he wouldn’t have even been able to lift his head if he tried. 

“ _Later?_ ”

_Uhhhhh —_

“ _Maybe._ ”

 _What. The. Fuck._ Lance rolled onto his side and clutched the blankets at his chest, heart pounding. There was no way Keith remembered. Keith didn’t remember anything

Lance heard a single knock at the door of his room. He slowly, tensely, let out all the air in his lungs.

“It’s me.” Keith’s voice. A whisper. “Can I come in?”

“Yeah,” Lance squeaked, waiting for the axe to fall.

Keith slowly opened the door, and stepped into the room. He kept his head down, stopping an arm’s reach from the bed. Lance looked at him, obviously awake. He looked nervous, even in the dark. 

“Hey,” Lance started. 

“Hey, uh, look —” Keith rubbed the back of his head, looking away. “I wanted to say I’m sorry.”

“For what?” Lance’s breath hitched in his throat. 

“For, uh. I don’t know if you remember.”

Lance stayed silent. He gulped. That might have been enough of an answer already. “Yeah,” he added, after a pause.

“You do? _Fuck,_ okay.” Keith was scratching his head now. Lance didn’t like seeing him like this. He sat up, tentatively, and swung his legs off the bed. 

“You can sit, Keith, It’s okay.” He patted the space next to him, forcing a small smile. Keith looked at him, brows pursed, and accepted. He rested his elbows on his knees, his head hunched forward. 

“I shouldn’t have asked — that. I’m sorry.”

“No, Keith,” Lance started, not knowing where he was going. “You don’t have to be sorry.”

“Well, I am, okay?” A note of frustration reached Keith’s voice. “You were drunk, and tired, and it wasn’t the time for that. I don’t want things to be weird. I didn’t want to make it weird.”

Lance scoffed, lightly, a shaky smile settling on his face. “You didn’t make it weird. Please.” He reached out a tentative hand, pausing in the space between them. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment and committed himself to it, putting a hand on Keith’s back as he opened his eyes again. Keith was staring at him now, same familiar, unreadable expression. Lance held his gaze, held his smile, and brushed his hand up Keith’s spine onto the nape of his neck. 

“Are you sure?” Keith’s voice was low, unfamiliar. Lance had never heard it like this before. He wasn’t sure what exactly Keith was asking about, everything was getting muddled. 

“Positive,” he said finally. His hand ran up into Keith’s scalp, and his other reached for his jaw. He leaned forward, pressing their foreheads together.

Keith grabbed his waist and their lips met, Lance’s hand clenching around wily black hair. 

_Okay, wait, hold up, I’m kissing Keith._

Lance pulled back, shocked. Keith studied his face through hooded eyes, confused. 

“Uh —”

“I’m not sure, actually,” Lance stammered. “Can we, uh, talk about this in the morning?” His hand lingered on Keith’s cheek for a second longer, before he slowly lowered it to his knee. 

“Okay.” Keith looked away abruptly, running his fingers over his mouth. “I’ll head out.” He got up, but Lance grabbed his wrist. 

“You don’t need to go. You can stay in here.”

“I thought —”

“I know, I’m not being super… clear.” Lance furrowed his brow. “I want this, I do. I’m just not sure… I don’t know what you want. And I feel like we need to talk about it but I’m too tired to do it now, okay?” He winced. “But you can stay if you want. Just to sleep. I’d like that.” 

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Yeah.”

“Great!” Lance shuffled over, giving Keith enough space to join him. He gave the mattress an awkward pat. Keith twitched the corner of his mouth, and got under the covers, his body stiff as a board, looking at Lance from the corner of his eye. 

“Okay, that’s a start,” Lance mumbled. He pulled the sheet over himself and settled down into the bed facing Keith. He reached out under the cover of the sheet and found Keith’s hand, clenched into a ball. 

“Hey.” Lance wrapped long fingers around Keith’s fist. He cleared his throat. “Can I—”

“Yeah.” Keith turned his head to face him. He unclenched his hand, hestitantly entwining his fingers with Lance’s. 

“Goodnight.” Lance leaned forward, pausing a moment before delivering a quick, chaste peck to Keith’s lips. Keith let go of his hand and rolled to his side, wrapping an arm around Lance’s torso, tucking his head in the crook of his neck. 

“Can I?” Keith mumbled, gruff. Lance swallowed thickly, nodding. He swore he could feel Keith smile softly against his shoulder. Without thinking, he turned his head to the side, burying his face in Keith’s hair, eyes closed. He felt Keith’s breathing slow, and allowed his own breaths to match. Despite the small knot in the pit of his stomach, Lance found himself easing into sleep. Within a few moments, he was gone.

. . .

Lance woke up in a haze, the early-morning sun pouring in through the window. He had turned over to his side in the night, and Keith was spooning him, arm still around his waist, legs entwined. He could feel Keith’s steady breaths in his hair. 

He needed a moment. Things were feeling a little _too_ real. He slowly, gently, moved Keith’s arm and shimmied himself free, sliding out of bed. Keith remained soundly asleep, nuzzling his face into Lance’s pillow. Lance tiptoed to his dresser, pulled some shorts over his boxers, and headed downstairs. 

Veronica was already in the kitchen brewing coffee when he turned the corner. 

“Good morning, _hermanito_.” She smirked. Lance knew what this was about.

“Please, V, not now.” He walked past her without looking at her and walked straight to the loaf of bread on the counter. He cut himself a couple slices and put them in the toaster. 

Veronica pursed her lips. “I wasn’t going to say anything, I just noticed that Kei—”

“Not now.” Lance leaned over the toaster, staring at it. 

“If you want to talk about it —”

“There’s nothing to talk about!” He spun around, crossing his arms. Veronica shot him a skeptical look. 

“Okay,” she said after a moment. “But —”

“I know, V. I can talk to you about anything, you love me, etcetera.” Lance sighed, smiling slightly. “I just kind of want him to be the first person I talk to about… this.”

“Oh,” Veronica’s eyebrows shot up. “Okay. I get that.” She smiled back at him. “Coffee?”

“Yeah.” Lance grabbed his slices of toast, buttered them, and placed them on a plate. Veronica poured him a mug of coffee and added a spoonful of sugar and milk into it. 

“I’m gonna eat on the porch.” Lance met her gaze. “I need to think, and stuff.”

“Wow. You really got it bad, _hermanito_.” She grinned and handed him his coffee. He opened his mouth to retort, but was interrupted by a voice from the doorway.

“Good morning.” Acxa leaned on the doorframe, wearing Veronica’s old, grey Galaxy Garrison t-shirt from when she was a cadet. Her long, pastel blue legs were almost bare thanks to the black bike shorts she wore, barely visible under the baggy shirt. 

“Bluh,” Veronica sputtered, her face reddening. Lance snickered, turning to his sister. 

“Speak for yourself.” He winked at her and crossed Acxa in the doorway, offering her a genuine smile. “I’ll see you both in a bit,” he called over his shoulder, heading to the front door. 

. . .

Keith joined him only fifteen minutes later. Even though Lance told himself he’d use the extra time to think, he couldn’t really come up with anything concrete to say. He was better at winging things anyway.

“Hey.” Lance looked over his shoulder, and was greeted by the sight of Keith in his black shirt and grey sweatpants, looking oddly similar to how Lance remembered him on the Castle Ship at night. Similar, but not the same. His long hair was tied back, yet still managed to qualify as bed head. His arms were thicker, sinewy. Lance indulged himself a little bit longer, gazing up at Keith’s defined shoulders and, finally, his relaxed, contented expression as his friend sat down next to him, clutching a cup of coffee. Keith looked at him, smiling faintly. “Good morning.”

“Hey, man. I, uh, brought you toast.” Lance handed him the plate, a single piece of buttered bread left on it. “It’s... probably not warm anymore.”

“Thanks, Lance.” Keith took the bread from the plate and bit into it, allowing the crumbs to fall on his black shirt like a complete heathen. 

“KEITH! You’re making crumbs!” Lance abruptly shoved the plate under Keith’s chin. 

“Mfhmm,” Keith replied, taking the plate and rolling his eyes. A couple small crumbs lingered in the corner of his mouth. Lance looked away, suddenly aware he was staring at his mouth. 

“So, uh.” Lance clapped his hands on his things, rubbing. He took a deep breath. “I don’t know how exactly the whole ‘telling your best buddy how you _really_ feel about him’ thing is supposed to work, but I’m gonna try my best, okay?”

Keith laughed through a full mouth of bread. “Okay. Mmf — Can I go first, though?” He swallowed his final mouthful of toast.

“Oh,” Lance’s eyes widened. “Yeah, sure.” A crumb lingered in the corner of Keith’s mouth. 

“Lance,” Keith said, his tone severe. “I need to say some things, stop staring at my mouth.”

“No! Fuck, I’m sorry, it’s just — you still have crumbs.”

Keith grunted, wiping a hand over his mouth and brushing the light dusting of bread bits off his black shirt. He stopped, sighing, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his thighs. He looked up, holding Lance’s gaze. He noticed the tension in Keith’s jaw, and how it looked as if he wanted to avert his eyes, but was forcing himself not to. 

“I’ve wanted this a long time,” Keith said, finally. “I figured it would only be fair to you if I was honest about how long.”

“Oh, okay.” Lance inhaled sharply. “What’s ‘this’?”

Keith furrowed his brow, caving and looking away. “I’ve wanted to _be_ with you a long time. It’s not like it was consistent, though. There were times I thought I was over it, after you dated Allura, when I was with Dax, but…”

“Oh,” Lance felt a twisting in his gut. This was news to him.

“Yeah,” Keith continued. “I didn’t think it would happen, honestly, especially after Allura... and since you didn’t seem interested in guys.” He chuckled, dryly. “But I figured that if we’re going to do this, I want you to know that I’m serious. This isn’t a small thing for me.”

Lance paused, considering. “How long?”

Keith swallowed. “Since the Black Lion chose me. And you… and you became my right hand.”

Lance’s mouth opened. “Oh, wow.” _That’s a fucking long time._

“Yeah.” Keith tensed. “That’s why I left.”

“What?”

“For the Blade. I cared about you, a lot. And I didn’t like seeing you doubt yourself. I left so you wouldn’t have to.”

Lance rested his head in his hand, elbow leaning on his leg. He studied Keith intently, running through his words again and again to make sure he heard correctly. His coffee lay abandoned by his foot. 

Keith paused to take a sip of his own. He observed Lance’s confounded expression with concern. After a moment, he put his mug down.

“I get it if this is a lot to take in.”

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” Lance’s hand gripped his hair, his other hand balled into a fist at his knee. Keith’s expression faltered, darkening.

“I couldn’t. I’m so sorry I never did. But I felt… stuck. I was angrier at the time, and reckless, and I never had people close to me in the way we had all become so close. We were like a family.”

He paused, looking at Lance as if to ask if he could continue. Lance nodded, slowly.

“And I loved my straight best friend and I had heard enough stories about that happening to know that it wouldn’t work out.”

“Jesus, Keith.” Lance reached for his hand, unthinking. His own hand was larger, his fingers longer than Keith’s. He was able to cover it almost entirely, squeezing it. Keith inhaled sharply, looking down at their hands against the wood fo the porch. Lance could have sworn he saw a glimmer of wetness in the corner of Keith’s eye.

Keith looked back towards the field in front of them. “After I came back, and I saw you and Allura were getting closer, I tried to keep a distance and let it happen. You seemed happier, and more sure of yourself and that was all I wanted. I don’t want you to think I was waiting for you in the wings after she left. At that point I had accepted that we’d only be friends. I just wanted to be the best friend possible to you.”

“Keith —” Lance felt his eyes twitch. He tried to blink it away. “I was happy because you were back.”

“Huh?” Keith turned to him.

“I was happy because I was your right hand again. I was miserable when you were gone. You — you made me feel like I knew what I was doing, and like I was good at it.”

“Oh,” Keith whispered. 

“And I know you love Allura, I wouldn’t ever assume you were happy about her leaving.” Lance offered him a tearful smile. He reached forward, steadily, and rested a hand on Keith’s neck, his thumb grazing his jaw. “Things have been good, all things considered. These past three years. But I didn’t see enough of you.”

“I kind of threw myself into my work, I guess.” Keith furrowed his brow.

“I wouldn’t have expected anything different, honestly.” Lance grinned. His thumb grazed Keith’s jawbone. “Yesterday was the most fun I’ve had in ages, maybe in my entire life. It was literally insane,” he laughed. Keith smiled up at him. “But it was amazing because it was with you. I want to be with you, too. I’m sorry it took me so long to —”

“No, don’t be sorry. That’s—” Keith laughed incredulously, shaking his head. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted to hear.”

Lance brought their foreheads together, noses brushing against one another. Keith’s breath hitched, his eyes fluttering. He leaned in, but Lance stopped him.

“One last thing,” he said softly, leaned back a little. “I’m coming with you, after this week.”

“What?”

“I’m coming with you, to the Blade. I want to be your right hand again, okay?”

Keith beamed at him, his mouth curving into a lopsided smile. “You sure?”

“Positive.”

“But what about the turnips? They’re not gonna preen themselves.” 

“What the fuck, Keith!” Lance let go of Keith’s face and swatted his arm. “I’m trying to tell you about how I'd follow you across the universe and stuff! It’s romantic!” Keith was laughing now, his cheeks flushed. 

“I’m sorry, I had to.”

“You’re a dick.”

“I’m your dick.”

“Hey!” Lance reddened. Keith failed to stifle his shit-eating grin. “That was uncalled for.”

“Come here.”

“Buh —” 

Keith reached over and pulled himself in, a hand on the nape of Lance’s neck. Their lips met, Keith’s prying his open without trepidation. Lance reciprocated, bringing his hands to Keith’s hair, holding on tightly. Lance could hear the wind blowing through the field before them, and feel the heat of the morning sun on his skin. He wondered how he, of all people, could be so lucky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Full disclosure: I came up with the sequence of events for the wild night while bored in a database design class. I then proceeded to write an outline while high out of my skull that night. My beta thought it was coherent enough so we rolled with it. 
> 
> Also full disclosure: the scene with Krolia happened to me in real life, almost to a T. 
> 
> Final note: [This](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5411236/) is the article that Kinkade sent Lance about yeast in the healthy human digestive tract, for anyone interested in learning about the gut microbiome.


	6. Epilogue: Everyone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance can barely keep himself together. His family is there for him, and everyone goes to brunch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here, have some fluff.
> 
> (There are brief descriptions of sex here - not sure it would qualify as smut as they're quite short, but if you don't want to read about the sex skip the paragraph where they're on the camping mattress, and the one that starts with them deciding to be quieter.)

Turns out Lance wasn’t entirely ready for what hit him. In the following few days, he quickly realized that falling for your best friend wasn’t exactly the smoothest of rides. It was _great_ , definitely, but it was also completely disorienting. Lance frequently found himself swinging from peak euphoria to utter confusion in two seconds flat multiple times a day.

It wasn’t always weird. Most of it felt as natural as breathing. Being with Keith without the unconscious repression, without the hesitation before reaching out and feeling him was the easiest part by far. Spending time together just sitting and talking was more effortless than ever. It was as if every wall between them had come down. Lance wasn’t thinking of how he carried himself, or whether he was messing things up. He was just existing in a way that felt so light, so completely untethered to earthly concerns. And it was incredible. It was incredible to be so far gone for someone and to see them and to know that they felt the same exact way about you. He kept finding himself staring at Keith, whether they were sitting close or whether he was far away across the field doing god knows what with Kosmo. And Lance’s mind would reach this weird plane of ethereal bliss where all he could do was just watch and think nothing but _this is my person, I’m his person and we’re together_ and he felt like exploding. But like, in a really really good way. 

Sometimes, though, it did get weird. Because it was _Keith_. And Lance had known him since he was a tiny, turbulent, rough, and shaggy fourteen year old all angry in phys ed. There was a time when seeing Keith succeed at nearly anything made Lance’s blood boil. That was long ago, sure, but it was still a thing. Their relationship had undergone so many different iterations that making things all romantic had indeed thrown Lance for a loop, even though he was a more than willing participant. 

There were moments, in the first few days, where Keith came up behind him and ran his hands over his waist, leaning in and offering up soft kisses to Lance’s neck and ears. And Lance would whip his head around and instinctively elbow Keith in the stomach and mutter something like, _dude, what the fuck?_ and then he’d remember _oh right, we’re in love or something_ and he’d apologize profusely as Keith gripped his abdomen and shot him a look of absolute scorn. The first time, they managed to laugh about it. But the third time, Keith just groaned and left the room, leaving Lance alone to collect his bearings and try to brainstorm ways of making it up to him. 

It took some getting used to, was all. Lance was an affectionate person, he always had been. He was affectionate with his friends, with his previous partners, with his family. But he and Keith were _never_ affectionate. They had maybe one sober hug and and a strangely delicate bro shake under their belts before they near-spontaneously decided to suck face one day. That’s not an easy transition. 

And so, sometimes Lance would start laughing in the middle of a prolonged make out session. And Keith would get confused, and Lance would try to explain that it’s not bad, that he’s _very happy to be here right now, but it’s just weird because you’re Keith!_ and Keith would kind of get it but he very clearly had been thinking about making out with Lance for years and he just wanted to take full advantage of finally being able to. So there was a slight tension there. It definitely got better though, over the first few days, as Lance started easing into the easy rhythm of having Keith around and allowing himself to touch him when he wanted to, and kiss him when he felt like it. It was odd at first, but it felt more natural each passing time. 

By Keith’s fourth night at the farm, Lance somehow managed to survive a near half hour of rolling around on the big camping mattress in the guest room locked at Keith’s lips without actually taking a giggle break. Afterward, they kind of looked at each other, all flushed and out of breath, and Lance said _Oh,_ because _that_ was what they had been trying to do successfully over the past few days. And it was like the last wall had come crashing down, and before Lance knew it Keith was sitting on his face and grinding him down into the mattress, barely stifling moans and ignoring Kosmo scratching at the closed door — which, in fairness, was pretty polite of him given he can teleport through walls. Lance didn’t really expect it to get so nasty all of a sudden but it honestly wasn’t even weird anymore, and that was a cause to celebrate in itself. 

The morning after, Veronica literally ignored him which was a total first. No smirks, no teasing, nothing. Lance tried to focus on his coffee and forget that it was probably because she heard her little brother enthusiastically giving and receiving in a multitude of different positions for at least an hour or two. Acxa, on the other hand, casually high-fived Keith before following Veronica out the door, and smiled at Lance on her way out. Keith sat down next to him and fondly explained that he and his crew were pretty… open about sex things. That didn’t matter to Lance, obviously, who was still sitting and wondering if he and his sister would ever be on speaking terms again. 

On the fifth night, Lance and Keith took to having much quieter sex, which had the unintended effect of making things extremely intimate and emotional. Something about having Keith so close to his own face, breathing into him and pressing his forehead against his made some screw come loose, and all of a sudden the floodgates opened and Lance couldn’t help but start sobbing uncontrollably as they reached climax. It was really hot for, like, a minute, but then afterwards he still couldn’t stop and Keith started panicking, scrambling for tissues and trying to help without really knowing what exactly to do. And Lance started fucking laughing again, in between sobs, because _of course_ just when they thought they had conquered the weirdness, it had decided to come back with a vengeance in the form of hysterical cry-laughter. Also Keith looked so goddamn _cute_ when he was all concerned, which just added to the wave of whatever the fuck Lance was feeling in that moment. It was wild, honestly. That had never happened to him before in his life.

On the seventh day, Veronica apparently decided to start acknowledging him again and aggressively asked if he was “being safe” while they cooked breakfast together. Lance did _not_ want to have that conversation, so he told her that no, they had been as unsafe as possible in the most deadpan voice he could manage. To his surprise, Veronica rolled her eyes and laughed, reluctantly, and then didn’t breach the subject again. 

He and Keith spent that morning in the greenhouse and the afternoon with Kaltenecker and the other Earth cows. Lance showed Keith how to milk them, which ended up being a disaster since Kosmo got jealous of both Lance and the cows and started acting out to win over his owner’s attention. Two buckets of spilled milk and one tipped cow later, Lance was left to clean the mess and comfort the cow while Keith had a stern talking-to with his wolf. He wasn’t sure exactly what that entailed, but by the time they returned Kosmo was acting very bashful and hesitantly affectionate with Lance, which was honestly pretty cute. He was quickly forgiven. 

Over dinner, Veronica pointed out that their family would be returning home the following day, encouraging Lance and Keith to take advantage of their last night together without seven extra Espinosas breathing down their necks. Realizing he and Keith had never actually been on an official date, Lance suggested taking him to Varadero beach, as it was only a short ride away from the farm. 

They headed over in Keith’s ship just after dinner, and Kosmo teleported to join them. They didn’t do much other than stroll on the beach and eat ice cream, but Lance rambled on about how he liked rigging his aerial silks with Veronica on _that_ tree over there, and how he and his old friend Mateo built this really large fortified sandcastle once, and how he tried bouldering on _that_ overhanging cliff over there with a girl the summer before Voltron happened. And Keith just kept listening and asking questions and Lance realized that there was so much of his life that Keith actually didn’t know about. Mostly Cuba stuff, pre-Voltron stuff. But it seemed like Keith definitely _wanted_ to know these things, so Lance kept on rambling about his family, about Mateo, about idolizing Shiro, and getting into the Garrison like his sister. And they held hands in public and, _yep, it was definitely a date. Definitely a first date. With Keith_. And Lance realized that the last real date he had been on was with Allura on their last night on Earth all those years ago, and that the entire time he had been so worried about doing everything right that he didn’t end up sharing much about himself. 

They ended up sitting on the beach as the sun was setting with Kosmo teleporting himself in and out of the water. Lance smiled a little to himself, thinking about the past few days. It felt good to share everything with Keith, to introduce him to the part of himself that he never got to see. Off in the distance, he noticed some folks were hosting a bonfire party, a lot like the one he had been to when he was 17. Lance had thought about that night a lot in the days leading up to seeing Mateo. It was important to him, and as he and Keith sat in comfortable silence taking in their surroundings, he slowly wrapped his head around why.

“Hey, Keith?” Lance spoke after a moment. 

“Mhm?” Keith was fondly watching Kosmo roll in the sand and surf. 

“Remember how you said something about, uh, how who you’re attracted to shapes how you relate to the world or something?” Lance felt nervous, all of a sudden. Which was weird, considering how comfortable he had been all night. Saying things out loud had a way of making them real, and he was only just getting used to the whole “emotional vulnerability” thing. 

“Yeah, I remember.” Keith was looking at him now, the bonfire faintly reflected in his eyes.

“I mean,” he sighed. “You’ve been listening to me all night. I don’t need to keep talking, you can talk now.”

“Lance.”

“Yeah, nevermind.”

“ _Lance._ ” Keith furrowed his brow. “I _want_ to listen to you. I’m enjoying this. You can talk to me about anything.”

“Okay,” Lance inhaled. “The bonfire just… just reminded me of the last time I went to one of those, the summer before we found the Blue lion.” He looked at Keith, who gave him an encouraging smile. He turned back to the water, where Kosmo was still playing. “I had sex for the first time that night with this girl I didn’t really know. And Mateo had come with me, and instead of going home with him I went to spend the night with her.” He paused.

“Was Mateo not cool with it?” 

“No, no that’s not it.” Lance dug his hands in the sand. This was all much harder to articulate than it was in his head. “I was in love with him. Or I had been, when we were younger, but I didn’t know it at the time. And before he left he basically confessed to me without explicitly saying it. He wasn’t trying to make anything happen, I think he just wanted closure. But at the time I didn’t really let myself understand what he was saying, or how I felt about him. I didn’t want to.”

Keith was quiet a moment, considering. “Why not?”

“I don’t really know, honestly.” Lance scrunched up his face. “Maybe ‘cause I was scared of messing things up with my best friend. But also probably because I thought I was straight.” He chuckled, darkly. “I cared so much about finding a girl to be with that I lost it to someone who had no intention of seeing me ever again. And Mateo was _right there_.” Lance wasn’t sure why, exactly, but he felt his eyes well up. 

Keith reached over and dug his own hand into the sand, fishing out Lance’s and entwining their fingers together. Lance breathed, feeling a new wave of courage hit him.

“I could never get real close to girls. I was terrible at it. I’d always think of my next move, or whether I was saying or doing the right thing. Hell, Pidge and I were probably only friends ‘cause I thought she was a guy at first. And Allura —” His expression soured. “Allura was my first lady friend. Ever. Like, good friend, that I could talk to. And I ended up _dating_ her because I thought that made sense. And I loved her. But I kept ignoring other things.” Lance’s breath hitched in his throat. 

“Yeah?” Keith raised his eyebrows, expectantly. He squeezed his hand.

“I kept falling for my friends. My guy friends. I didn’t think I could date guys so I just let myself get close to them. It was easy. But then I’d start _feeling_ things and it’d be weird, and I didn’t get it. I was so jealous, and I’d get sad when Mateo had a life without me, or when Hunk would hang out with his other friend —”

“Wait.” Keith was smiling now. “Hunk? You ‘fell for’ Hunk?”

“What? Like, kinda? I mean, I guess I had a big crush on him at the beginning, when we joined the Garrison. And it probably was a thing in the back of my head for like… three years…” he trailed off, eyes widening. “Oh god. I’m an _idiot_.”

Keith looked like he was using every one of his 43 face muscles not to break out into a fit of laughter. 

“Are you literally only realizing this now?”

Lance let go of Keith’s hand and covered his face with his own. “I’m such a disaster,” he mumbled. 

Keith actually laughed, finally. It looked as if he might die from holding back a moment longer. 

“Why do you like me? I’m a mess.” Lance dragged his hands down his face, resting them in his lap. 

“Are you serious?” Keith turned himself to face him head on. “Are you literally talking about loving your friends as if it’s a bad thing?”

“... Yes?” Lance was confused. “Maybe? When you put it that way —”

“It’s not a bad thing.” Keith was looking at him now, meeting his gaze. His mouth was still curled into a subtle smile. It was very him. “Lance, I pined after you for years because you were literally so full of love for everyone. You gave it freely, and _you_ made our team into a family. It was all you. You loved us, admired us, and you trusted us unconditionally. And I feel like sometimes you were the only one of us that understood how important it was for us to _be_ a family. I had never met anyone like you before.”

“Oh.” Lance stared at him. “Holy shit.”

“Yeah.” Keith smiled wider. He reached a hand around the back of Lance’s neck, gently running his fingers through the hair at his nape. “And I’m sure some of it is because you grew up with so much love around you. But it’s also because you’re you, and that’s just how you do things.”

He mulled over Keith’s words, allowing them to sink in. He felt his throat constrict, pressure building behind his eyes. 

“I loved you then, because of that. Even though I couldn’t tell you. And I still do. And you have no idea how happy I’ve been now that I can love you openly.”

“Oh my god, Keith.” Lance was crying, now. Great. He had probably shed more happy tears in the past few days than in his entire life. And that was definitely the first time one of them said the love thing out loud. At least he knew he had a handsome crying face. “Y—you need to stop t—talking.”

“Okay.” Keith smiled even wider. He leaned in and left a lingering kiss just below Lance’s right eye. 

“UUUUGH,” Lance groaned, wiping at his eyes. Keith pulled back, amused. “How am I supposed to top that?! What do I even say to that, Keith? Fuck! I love you so much! UGH!” He leaned forward abruptly and wrapped Keith in a hug, burying his face in the crook of his neck. He could hear Keith ceasing to breathe, probably because he was squeezing him too hard. _Oh well. Serves him right._

After a minute, he collected himself. He pulled back to look at Keith, who was all teary-eyed now too. 

“Okay, okay,” Lance chuckled, grinning. “So tomorrow, my family’s coming home. And I’m gonna tell them we’re a thing, and they’re going to literally smother you with love. You haven’t seen anything yet. Although…” He paused, brow furrowing.

“What?” 

“I haven’t actually like, _come out_ to them yet. So it’ll be like delivering two pieces of news instead of just one. Maybe I can, like, avoid the whole talk by just saying we’re dating and not explaining?”

Keith laughed. “You can do that, but they might have questions.”

“Oh my god, Keith, they’re gonna have so many fucking _questions_ , I hope you’re ready.”

“Definitely not. But whatever.”

“And then the day after we have brunch at Allura’s, and we’ll need to tell everyone there.” Lance frowned. He didn’t like having to make all these announcements, he didn’t want things to be a huge deal. 

“Well, maybe not _everyone_. It doesn’t have to be a big thing,” Keith said, as if reading his mind. 

“What do you mean?”

“Well, Allura and Lotor basically know already cause they can see everything, right?”

“Oh, right.” Lance grimaced, hoping Allura didn’t pay much attention to _everything_ he and Keith got up to at night. That would be weird.

“And I told Shiro —”

“WHAT? When did you tell Shiro?!” Lance gaped at him. 

“Like, five minutes after it happened? After we talked on the porch?” Keith winced. “Shiro had to listen to me whine about you for _years_ , it was only fair.”

“SHIRO KNEW YOU LIKED ME?!”

“OF COURSE HE DID! Lance, I’m not you. I was aware of my feelings and I actually talked about them.”

“Ouch. Touché.” Lance chuckled, running a hand through his hair. “So we only really need to tell Pidge, Hunk, and Coran.”

“Yeah, so it doesn’t have to be some sort of big official announcement.” Keith smiled. “It’ll be fine.”

“Yeah,” Lance looked at him, grinning. “It’ll be great.”

. . .

Lance’s family had a lot of fucking questions. 

He and Keith delivered the news over dinner, and all hell broke loose. But in a nice, lovingly chaotic way. The Espinosas had already gotten to know Keith over the past few years, so it wasn’t like they were meeting a stranger. They liked him already, too. Lance’s mom loved cooking for him, knowing he rarely had access to good, home cooked food on his humanitarian missions. His dad was a sci-fi nerd, and liked hearing Keith’s stories about the Quantum Abyss and how weird everything was over there. He and Marco somehow bonded over fancy knives one time. Sylvio and Nadia were a bit shy, and Keith was pretty awkward around children. But Lance had faith that they’d grow to admire him too. 

Everyone was predictably ecstatic and overwhelmed by the news. Lance suspected that they were mostly just happy to see him happy, evidenced by the uncontrollable grin he wore all evening. When Lance told them he was planning on joining the Blade, his mother cried. She was proud of him, of course, but she had loved having him around. Lance reassured her, promising not to leave more than two weeks between visits. Keith echoed his sentiment, joking that he wouldn’t be able to go on for more than a couple weeks without her cooking anyway. Lance had never expected to see his mother hug Keith, of all people, so hard. But she did, and he felt his heart threatening to burst. 

The inevitable questions about Lance’s sexuality eventually popped up as well. Sensing his discomfort, Veronica chimed in and said she and her brother had a lot in common in that department. This seemed to satisfy everyone, and no one asked any more questions in that vein again. Lance made a mental note to thank her later. 

Finally, the typical new couple questions came up. They were asked about how they got together. This led to a long explanation of how Kosmo brought them to another dimension when they were out. When Lance explained how Allura was still alive, everyone fell silent, for the first time all evening. Eventually, they rejoiced, insisting that Kosmo bring them over to to her dimension to say hi one day. _That’ll definitely be an interesting time_ , Lance thought, slightly apprehensive.

Eventually, everyone broke off into smaller conversations. They probably sensed that Lance and Keith were growing a little bit tired of being the center of attention. Soon, the table was being cleaned, dishes were getting washed, and Marco was breaking out his best whiskey to share with Keith and no one else. Lance helped his mom wash the dishes, taking breaks to hug her from behind and thank her for being so great about everything. 

When they finally finished, Lance walked into the living room and saw Keith and Acxa seated on the ground with Sylvio, Nadia, and Kosmo. Keith looked a tad awkward, but was clearly making an effort to bond with the kids. He was telling them about when he found Kosmo on the back of that space whale. They hung on his every word, and kept interjecting with questions and calling him “Tío Keith” and Lance suddenly… couldn’t handle it anymore. He felt his chest constrict, his eyes well up, and he made his way outside to the front porch where he could sit in silence, just for a moment. Just to collect his thoughts.

“ _Hermanito?_ How you doing?” Veronica was right behind him, apparently. He wasn’t surprised. 

“I’m so good, V.” His voice cracked, but he attempted a smile. “It’s just… it just feels really real.”

Veronica sat down and leaned her head on his shoulder. He continued staring out into the field. 

“It’s a lot,” he continued. “For one night. For only a few days.”

Veronica chuckled. “The first time I saw Acxa playing with Sylvio and Nadia, I started bawling my eyes out right in the middle of the living room. You remember that, no?”

Lance felt his mouth twitch. “Yeah, I do. That was like, two years ago or something? I remember everyone freaking out.”

“Yeah, I really made a scene.” She nuzzled into his shoulder a bit more. “I’m sorry I ignored you the other day. I know you’ve probably had a really intense week and I wish I hadn’t done that. I just needed a day to wrap my head around you being in a real, adult relationship, you know?”

“Hey,” Lance smirked. “Who said anything about a ‘relationship’?”

Veronica sat upright and gaped at him. “Lance, I love you but don’t be a fucking asshole.”

“I’m kidding, V! Seriously!” He wrapped an arm around her and tilted his head onto her’s.

“Yes, very funny. But seriously, if you hurt Keith, I _will_ kill you. He cares about you so much.”

“I know. Trust me.” 

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Veronica wrapped her arms around his waist and nestled her head back onto his shoulder. 

“It’s not easy, what you’re feeling. I’ve been there.”

Lance sighed, closing his eyes. “It feels like I’m gonna burst any second. I thought it was supposed to be all nice and soft, but sometimes it’s just so overwhelming and… fuck, I don’t know.”

“And you keep crying ‘cause you love him?” 

“Yeah! It makes no fucking sense! I’m going insane!” Lance laid back on the deck, stretching his arms over his head. “And it’s literally been, what, a week?”

“You’ve known him for a long time, though. I’d bet that you’ve loved him longer than a week, _hermanito_.”

“Ugh, maybe. Probably. Shut up.” He crossed his arms. “Does it get less weird and emotional?”

Veronica raised an eyebrow. “Honestly? It’s not even weird. I’m sure Keith doesn’t find it weird. Acxa and Keith don’t wear their hearts on their sleeves like we do. But in my experience, they’ll know it’s out of love.”

“Still kinda gross.”

“I never said it wasn’t gross.” Veronica smiled down at him. “I’m proud of you, _hermanito_. You’re going to make each other so happy. And you’re going to be a great Blade member, Acxa can’t wait to work with you.”

Huh. Lance had forgotten that he’d literally be working with his pseudo sister-in-law. It was almost kinda… nice? He’d always wanted a real relationship with her. 

“I’m excited to work with her. I wanna get to know her better.”

“I’m glad to hear it.” Veronica grinned. “I’m going to need to find a way to bond with Keith on my own.”

“Ask him to take you for a ride in his ship. He’ll probably do some stunt flying and nearly kill you, but you’ll be bonded for life.”

“Sounds like a plan.” 

Lance sat up and hugged her again. “Thanks, V. I love you so much.”

“I love you too. Let’s go back inside before they come looking.”

. . . 

“I’m wearing it to brunch.”

“You’re not wearing it, Lance.”

“I’m wearing it and you’re wearing yours.”

“No.”

“Why not?!”

“Lance, we’re not wearing our Blade uniforms to brunch. We’re going to eat a lot and it’ll be uncomfortable.”

“BUT WE’RE SO HOT, KEITH! My butt looks great!”

“I know. It’s distracting. All the more reason.”

“Buh—” Lance sputtered, turning his head away from the mirror to look at Keith. “So, I’m distracting?” He raised an eyebrow, smirking. Keith groaned. 

“I take it back.”

“No take backs, Keith! You think I’m hot!” 

“Nope.”

“You think my BUTT is DISTRACTING!” Lance hopped over to the bed and straddled Keith’s lap, taking his hands and placing them on his behind. Keith shot him an unimpressed look, giving his left cheek a reluctant squeeze. 

“You’re stalling.”

“I’m not stalling.”

“You’re stalling so everyone will get here and you won’t have time to change out of the armor.”

Lance gasped. “I would never!”

Keith rolled his eyes, suppressing a grin. He abruptly flipped Lance over onto his back and got up from the bed. “You’re changing and if you keep stalling I’m going to pick your outfit for you.”

“I don’t want to change!”

“Fine, then don’t change and feel gross after brunch. Lance, I’ve worn these for years. I know what it’s like.”

“Ugh, fine.” Lance stood and began unbuckling the armor, letting pieces of it fall to the floor. Keith smirked, turning toward his messy duffle bag. He pulled out a rumpled black long-sleeve t-shirt and a pair of black jeans. 

“Keith, you can’t wear that. This is a _nice_ brunch.”

“Says the guy who wanted to wear armor.”

“Seriously! You can’t just wear a wrinkled t-shirt to brunch at Allura’s! She’s literally a god and she lives in a fancy alternate reality. At least wear something that doesn’t wrinkle.” Lance hummed and dug through his dresser. He pulled out a black knit turtleneck and threw it at Keith’s face. “There. It’s like what you have but nicer.” He crossed his arms, looking exceptionally smug. Keith scowled at him before pulling the turtleneck over his head. 

“There! You look great!”

Keith looked at himself in the mirror. “Okay, fine. I like it,” he mumbled, before reaching for his jeans. Lance pulled on some blue corduroys and a grey button-down and joined Keith in front of the mirror, placing himself directly behind him. He reached around and started fussing with the collar of the sweater, and Keith rolled his eyes, half-heartedly batting his hands away.

“It’s all uneven! Let me fix it.” Lance spent a couple more seconds smoothing out any creases in the fold of the turtleneck. After a moment, he noticed that Keith had gone quiet and thoughtful, staring at their reflections. Lance looked over at the mirror, snaking his arms around Keith’s waist and resting his head on his shoulder. 

“So, this is a thing,” Lance said after a pause.

“Yeah.” Keith let out a crooked half-smile. He gripped Lance’s forearms in front of his middle and squeezed. “You ready?”

Lance laughed, burying his face in Keith’s hair. “Nope.”

“Too bad.” Keith grinned. “I can’t wait to see Pidge and Hunk’s faces.”

Lance groaned, feeling warmth rise in his face. “I don’t want to think about it.” They heard the sound of a ship landing outside, gently rattling the windows. Lance felt a familiar tension in his gut. “Great.”

“It’ll be fine. They’ll get used to it after a minute.”

“I hope you’re right.” Lance lifted his head to give Keith a quick peck before pulling away.

. . .

Shiro waved at them from the field. Lance grabbed Keith’s hand and led him down the front steps, meeting their old leader halfway. Knowing Shiro knew already removed most of the pressure of the situation, and Lance found himself at ease. Once they reached him, Lance let go of Keith’s hand and wrapped Shiro in a hug, before Keith did the same. 

“Lance, uh, did you dress Keith?” Shiro raised an eyebrow. Keith reddened, looking away.

“I did!” Lance beamed. “Wasn’t gonna let him wear his weird post-punk shit to brunch.”

“It was just a t-shirt!” Keith scowled. 

Shiro chuckled. “I’m glad to see you’re both getting along, as usual.”

“Yep, nothing’s changed, everything’s normal.” Lance snickered, wrapping an arm around Keith’s waist. Keith turned his face to meet his, their gazes lingering on one another for a moment.

“Wait, what the shit?”

“PIDGE?” Lance squawked, pushing Keith away with one hand. 

“H— Hi Pidge.”

“WHY ARE YOU WITH SHIRO?”

“Because we work together? At the Garrison?” Pidge raised an eyebrow. “Why were YOU guys acting like a couple?”

“Buh—” Lance cringed. Shiro had crossed his arms, absolutely beaming at the spectacle in front of him. 

“Because we’re a couple?” Keith said it like a question. Lance forced an extremely uncomfortable smile. 

Pidge looked at Keith, then at Lance, mystified. “When the hell did this happen?”

“A week ago?” Lance rubbed the back of his neck. “After that whole night with Kosmo, after we all had that conference call.”

Pidge gaped. “So you like guys, now?”

“Always have, apparently. Didn’t really realize it but yep, it’s a thing.”

“Oh my god.” Pidge’s features contorted into an evil grin.

“I don’t like that look, Pidge, what are you thinking?” Lance felt panic mounting again.

“You totally had a crush on Hunk at the Garrison.”

“NO I DIDN’T!”

“You were so weird about letting me hang out with you both, at first.”

“I DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT!”

“Hey, hey,” Shiro placed a hand on Pidge’s shoulder, smiling. “Let’s take the heat off Lance for a second. Personally, I want to hear about how Keith confessed to pining after him for years.”

Keith’s expression wordlessly stretched into an indignant scowl. “Traitor.”

“Wait, _years_?” Pidge whipped her head around. “How the hell did I miss all of this?”

“Miss what?” Hunk appeared behind Shiro with Coran, whose pod was parked right near Shiro’s. Apparently the stress of going public with his friends had caused Lance to miss their arrival. 

“Good morning, Paladins!” Coran stood tall, proud. He wore a mahogany, well-tailored, Altean equivalent of a 3 piece suit and a black silk neck tie. _Okay, _that’s_ how you dress for interdimensional brunch_, Lance thought, fondly. He relaxed at the sight of the newcomers, both of whom were often his biggest sources of support. He had a good feeling about telling them, all of a sudden. Like he shouldn’t have been worried in the first place.

“Ah, well, I have some… news.” Lance took a breath, stood tall, grinning at Hunk and Coran. He looked at Keith, who slowly uncrossed his arms, his gaze softening, focused on Lance. 

“Keith and I are a couple. Since a week ago.” It felt good, better than he expected. He had said it already to his family, but it had been more stunted, more unsure. As if these were words he didn’t really expect to spill out of his own mouth. But this time, he felt solid and stable realizing there was nothing to worry about, and that he was no longer hiding. The people most important to him knew now, and it wasn’t strange anymore. He felt a tightness in his chest, but it wasn’t anxiety. It wasn’t fear, either. He felt lucky, more than anything. Not only for having Keith, but for having all of them. 

Sensing his calm, Keith took his hand, squeezing it. Lance shot him a grin before turning back toward everyone else. His eyes locked on Hunk who, to his surprise, appeared to be brimming with emotion. His lip quivered, eyes twitching, and he surged forward, wrapping Keith and Lance in a rib-crushing hug. Lance laughed, feeling himself tear up as well. He buried his face in Hunk’s shoulder and hugged him back. 

“Y-you idiots! You broke me,” Hunk wheezed, his words muffled in Keith’s hair. Suddenly, Lance felt another body press against him, and found Pidge joining in on the hug as well, beaming up at him. 

“Oh my, congratulations! That is wonderful news!” Coran joined in as well, and Shiro too. Lance felt them on all sides, felt their laughter against his body. He sniffed, his grin remained plastered on his face, gratitude surging through him. He felt almost silly for being nervous mere minutes ago.

“I’m sorry I got all weird,” Pidge said as they broke apart. “I was just trying to wrap my head around it, but I’m really happy for you guys.” 

“It’s cool, Pidge,” Keith said. “Lance hasn’t wrapped his head around it yet either.”

“Hey!” Lance elbowed him, still grinning. “I’m adjusting!”

It felt normal, like nothing had changed. Everyone prodded Keith and Lance with only a few more questions, entertained at the fact that they had gotten together almost immediately after their big conference call. They soon made their way to the house, to both say hi to the Espinosas and to find Kosmo. On the walk over, Coran grabbed Keith and Lance, ushering them aside. 

“I’m proud of you both,” he said, his voice lower and more serious than usual. His gaze, however, was fond as ever. “I must say you’ve always made an excellent pair, and I have no doubt you will make each other very happy.”

“Aww Coran, does this mean we have Space Uncle’s blessing?” Lance threw an arm over his shoulder. 

“Of course!” They couldn’t exactly see his mouth, but his moustache rose a couple centimeters. He was smiling, most likely. “My boys, in what reality could I possibly be disapproving of such a match?”

Once Lance’s mother spotted their guests, she burst from the farm house yelling at him for not telling the whole family about his friends’ arrival the moment they landed. She was followed closely by everyone else, and the Espinosas absolutely smothered the Paladins and Coran in love and praise. Lance’s mother lamented how they were not invited to join for brunch at Allura’s, and Lance promised she’d be invited soon. This brunch, however, was an exclusive “Paladins plus Coran” affair. She understood, obviously, emphasizing that she simply wanted to make sure Allura could get some decent home cooked food that wasn’t materialized out of thin air like the stuff she was most likely eating… if she ate food at all. Lance, meanwhile, was confused at how readily his mom was able to wrap her head around the idea that his ex girlfriend had become a god. She literally didn’t seem phased, as long as she could make sure Allura knew she was loved by their family as well.

After some energetic chit chat over coffees, it came time to teleport over to Allura’s. Keith whistled for Kosmo right outside Lance’s family home, calling him over from where he had apparently been mending his relationship with Kaltenecker and the other cows. Everyone grabbed onto a tuft of his fur, and they dematerialized in a short ‘pouf’ that followed an excited bark. 

. . .

“Paladins! You have no idea how delighted I am to see you all!” 

Allura came running down the staircase, welcomed by a chorus of frenzied greetings. Lance and Keith held it together at first, having only seen Allura a week prior, but the sight of their friends’ tears and overwhelming emotion had them joining in on the cry-fest within seconds. They lost sight of Allura for a few moments as she was squished by hugs on all sides, and joined in by wrapping their arms around the perimeter of the group hug.

“Pidge! You’ve become an adult! You look so professional! And Shiro, congratulations on finding love and happiness! I know Curtis is a remarkable man and partner.” Allura’s praise was punctuated by euphoric laughter at the sight of seeing her found family once again. Lance felt his heart begin to burst. 

“And Hunk, I am so proud of all that you’ve built on Altea. I knew you were destined for great things. And Coran —” Allura choked, her eyes welling up even more at the sight of her former Advisor and old friend. “You have no idea how sorry I was that I never said goodbye to you. You didn’t deserve that, after all you’ve done for me.”

“Allura,” Coran’s voice was uncharacteristically quiet. “You know I would never fault you for that, not for a moment.” He took hold of her shoulders, her hands resting on his biceps. “But I believe I do owe you an apology, however. I didn’t trust your decisions, towards the end. I was too worried about whether something terrible would happen to you to respect your judgement. And I was wrong. What you did preserved existence itself and I could not be more proud of you, my child.”

Allura beamed, wrapping him in her arms. “All is forgiven.” 

Lance felt something twist in his throat, something triggered by Coran’s words. He resonated with them, remembering that three years prior when stakes were running high, he hadn’t trusted Allura either. He regretted ever doubting her — he did the instant she saved the universe. But, he realized, he had never told her that. Without thinking, he stepped forward. 

“I’m sorry, too.” Everyone’s eyes were on him at once. He didn’t care that they were watching. He had something he needed to own up to. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t trust you either, and that I treated you like a precious, delicate thing that I needed to protect. It was fucking annoying of me, and it came from a selfish place. I’m sorry I cared more about you being mine than letting you make your own decisions. You were right, in the end. You saved us all.”

He heard Allura’s breath hitch. She walked toward him, Keith standing close by, staggered only a couple feet back. Placing her hands on either side of his face, she leaned in, her forehead meeting his and their eyes locking together. 

“Thank you, Lance. I am so proud of the person you’ve become.”

“I learned from the best.” He squeezed her forearm. 

She pulled back, turning finally to Keith. He stepped forward, hesitantly, slightly disoriented by the overwhelming show of emotion. 

“Keith, you know how much I admire you.” Allura took his hands in hers, smiling at him softly. Lance watched as Keith smiled back, matching the tenderness of her gaze. “And I am so glad that you have found happiness. I cannot imagine a better partner for you.”

“Thank you. It means a lot.” Keith offered her a characteristically light, genuine smile. Looking at them, Lance literally couldn’t handle himself anymore. 

“W-what the f-FUCK guys! Are you trying to kill me?” He started bawling and wrapped them both in a tight hug. He heard a chorus of warm laughter around him. It felt like home, in a different sort of way. 

. . .

Brunch was, pardon the pun, _heavenly_.

Lotor ended up joining them after their big feelings fest, at everyone’s insistence. He had helped Allura restore the universe, after all. He was visibly uncomfortable at first, but knowing Allura loved and trusted him was enough for them to welcome him with open arms. After they all sat down, Allura blinked and a large, family-style spread covered the table, complete with mimosas. Lance clinked his dainty champagne glass with Keith’s and took a moment to consider how fucking bonkers his life was, in the absolute best way possible. 

They ate, talked animatedly, laughed, and ate more. Keith was laughing so much, so often, that Lance was almost shocked. He had never seen him this happy. And through it all, their thighs were locked against one another, holding each other’s hands occasionally. They didn’t hide it, either. Sometimes their hands were on the table, for everyone to see, and it felt so _normal_. Sometimes their friends would shoot them subtle fond looks, and Lance would grin back and squeeze Keith’s hand harder. He felt wildly euphoric, knowing that somehow, in at least a small way, he was responsible for a fraction of Keith’s happiness that morning. And he couldn’t wait to keep making Keith happy, and keep seeing him like that. It was honestly one of the best mo —

“Hey, Lance, why did you decide that you and Keith were rivals?”

“Buh — huh?” Lance snapped out of his saccharine daydream and stared at Pidge, who eyed him innocently.

“I’m just curious. We never actually found out.”

Lance heard a chuckle next to him. It was Keith. The traitor. “Yeah, Lance, I’d love to know too.” 

And now everyone was staring at him, expectantly. He swallowed, flaring his nostrils and furrowing his eyebrows in thought. He definitely remembered _why_ , but it was dumb, dumb enough to justify trying to make something up. He racked his brain for an excuse, or a way to save himself the embarrassment of having everyone find out.

He heard another laugh, this one deeper, warmer. He turned to Hunk, eyes widening with the realization that his friend knew at least half of the story. _Fuck_. He probably wasn’t getting out of this one. 

“Wait a minute…” Keith was squinting at him now, and _holy shit_ , he knew the other half. 

“You were _that_ guy.”

“I don’t know what you mean, Keith! I was NOT ‘that guy’!” He tried feigning innocence, but his fucking transparent demeanor was at it again, making him look more like a cat that got caught shitting in the rice cooker. 

“You thought I was some girl named Jenny and then you wouldn’t leave me alone and we were forced to pair up for training drills. And you were pissed for some reason” Keith smirked. “Probably cause I beat you in that fitness test.”

Hunk choked on his mimosa. “Wait, WHAT? You thought KEITH was Jenny Shaybon?”

“THEY HAD THE SAME HAIRCUT!” Lance’s eyes bulged. He quickly grabbed his drink and started chugging it. Pidge, Allura, Lotor and Coran had adopted a looks of utter confusion, while Shiro looked highly amused. 

Hunk paused, considering, and burst into laughter, wiping his eyes. “Aw man, I totally thought it was the other thing.” He paused, clapping a hand over his mouth.

Silence. And then —

“What the fuck was ‘the other thing’?” Pidge raised an eyebrow, her evil smirk matching Keith’s. _Damn it,_ Lance needed new friends. 

“There was no other thing!” Lance pointedly stuffed a forkful of potato into his mouth, attempting to shut himself up. 

“Lance, we do not mean to make you uncomfortable.” Allura smiled over at him warmly. He swallowed the potato. “We are simply curious, and most of us at this table did not know you back then. We are not judging, and we are all endlessly fond of you.”

He took a sharp inhale, looking at Keith. He squinted his eyes shut. “Okay, _okay_ , I’ll explain myself. But please don’t judge me.”

“Lance, I love you and that’s not going to change. I will laugh at you though. Probably.” Keith grinned, and _fuck_ he didn’t usually grin that wide. Lance felt this weird push and pull of wanting to make Keith laugh but also wanting to preserve his dignity. But one look at Keith’s grin had him opening his mouth, dignity be damned. 

“Okay, so Jenny Shaybon and I went to the roof this one time and we kissed there, and it was my first time doing that. And then we were _interrupted_...” Lance took a moment to gaze around the table, everyone leaning in, hanging on his every word. He looked back at Keith, who was suddenly furiously red. Lance felt his confidence return, his own smirk creeping up on his face.

“... by this guy over here, sucking face with some dude against the wall.”

Keith’s eyes widened, mortified. “Wh — I _always_ made sure we were alone!”

“Nope! Not that time!” Lance crossed his arms in triumph. Everyone else at the table seemed entertained, if mildly confused.

“That’s… hilarious honestly, but how did that make him your rival?” _Damn Pidge and her scientific curiosity._

“Oh, Lance was totally intimidated by how Keith knew what he was doing while he was there having his first kiss ever!” Hunk said, all giddy like he wasn’t a _fucking traitor, too_. And now Pidge was laughing, incredulous. And so was Keith, and Lance was almost mad but seeing his partner like that honestly just made him laugh at himself as well. 

Shiro beamed, shaking his head. “You’re all ridiculous.”

“I am afraid to admit that I don’t grasp any of this.” Lotor seemed entertained, fascinated even, but clearly at a loss. “Humans are quite odd in the logical conclusions they come to. I do not see how having having less sexual experience than another person would constitute grounds for a rivalry.”

“Aw, come on, Lotor! You’re like, a god and shit, you’ve probably literally seen this happen.” Lance grinned at him.

“I have, indeed.” Lotor scrunched up his nose, uncomfortably. “And yet I still do not understand it. I cannot read your mind, Lance, it remains an enigma to me.”

Allura laughed, softly. She rested a hand on Lotor’s shoulder. “Darling, I assure you that once you get to know him better, it will make much more sense.”

“Indeed!” Coran piped up. “Our dear Lance often had the habit of, erm, _peacocking_ as humans refer to it. And it thus does not require much of a stretch of the imagination to wrap one’s head around the idea that his competitive nature got the best of him in that situation!”

“Whuh — _peacocking?_ ” Lance sputtered. Keith stifled another laugh. 

“I don’t know,” Pidge squinted, “it was probably cause he was just super gay for Keith.” Aaand now Shiro had absolutely lost it, wiping a stray tear from his eye. 

Lance beamed, looking around at everyone at the table as Keith and Shiro laughed, and Hunk grinned at Pidge, and Coran and Allura appeared to be explaining the term “peacocking” to Lotor. It was honestly such a _sight_ and Lance felt his marks glow on his cheeks for some fucking reason, because apparently they did that when he looked at things that made his heart skip a beat, he realized. It wasn’t even weird. This was his life, and he was eternally grateful.

. . .

After the remains of brunch dematerialized from the table, Lance insisted on playing some music. He asked Allura to summon some sort of stereo-type device and put on a playlist of really old songs that were fun and good for dancing and sometimes reminded him of space because they made him feel all thoughtful. They were also the kind of songs that would make his late great-great-grandfather nostalgic. He didn’t care — he liked 20th century dad music. 

They danced. He lifted Pidge, spinning her around in circles. He stood, impressed, when he realized Keith could actually _dance well_ after swinging him around a few times. Hunk lifted him up, spinning him in circles. He saw Shiro dance with Allura, hand in hand, then Lotor with Allura, then Coran and Pidge and soon everyone was dancing with everyone and it was so fucking great. Ugh. Lance loved dancing like this, not at the club. This was so much better. 

After a few minutes, he and Hunk took a break to go hang out with Kosmo, who had gotten bored of sniffing around outside and had come barreling through the front door looking for pats. They sat on the floor, rubbing his belly, occasionally taking a photo or to to show people back in their reality. After a moment, Hunk spoke.

“Hey, man. I’m real proud of you.”

Lance looked up, his friend softly beaming at him. He returned a smile.

“You’re like, so cool.” Hunk grinned. “And you and Keith are so cute, oh my god. It makes me want to cry again!”

Lance chuckled to himself, lightly. He paused, thinking “Did you ever think it would happen?” he asked after a moment. “Me and Keith, I mean.”

“Honestly,” Hunk looked over to where Keith was now dancing with Allura, both of them giddy. “I think I kinda did, but not consciously. Sometimes I’d see you guys together and I’d think it for a brief second, but then it’d be gone. It was at the back of my mind, like, way way back. But I think it was there.”

“Huh,” Lance took a moment to absorb what Hunk had said. “Did you think I wasn’t straight, then?”

Hunk furrowed his brow. “I don’t know, Lance. You were just — you, to me. I didn’t think of you as straight, or bi or whatever. You were just my best buddy, and you seemed happy with him even back then. So I was like, huh, who knows.” He smiled at Lance, who could feel the air knocking out of his lungs. _Wow. That was…_

“That’s one of the kindest things anyone’s ever said to me.” Lance felt pressure build in his eyes. He grinned. “I love you, buddy.”

“I love you too!” Hunk wrapped him in bear hug, as they remained seated on the floor. Kosmo shifted himself to wrap around them. 

“Oh, and full disclosure,” Lance said as they came apart. He raised an eyebrow. “I totally had a crush on you at the Garrison. For like, three years. I don’t think I realized it though.” He laughed.

“Awww, buddy! I’m honored! If I were attracted to guys I would have totally crushed on you! I thought you were the coolest person ever.”

“WHAT?! No way!”

“Yeah way!” Hunk beamed. “You had that whole collection of super old space movies and you snuck out all the time and you really pushed me to have fun. I was this scared kid on my own for the first time, but you made me feel like I was never alone.”

“AWW, HUNK! Why’d you wait like, ten years to whip that one out?” Lance smacked his back. “You’re killin’ me!”

He leaned into his friend, snuggling him like he had at the Garrison that one time. Except this time, Hunk was awake, and he didn’t give a shit. He could be affectionate with his buddy because he loved him, damn it. They remained seated on the floor, watching the others dance. 

Three years ago, Lance would not have imagined that he’d be here of all places, seeing Allura alive and happy, seeing his own hand in Keith’s as if it were the most natural thing in the world, and seeing his entire space family messing around as if they were still in the Castle of Lions, trying to figure out what the fuck they were doing piloting a giant robot made of color-coded mechanical cat ships. And most of all, he couldn’t have imagined the weightlessness he felt in this moment, knowing exactly who he was and understanding his place in the universe. It was honestly the first time he could say that with certainty. That he was sure of himself, finally. And he didn’t regret a single thing, because everything and everyone had led him here, to a place that he never dreamed he could be. 

He caught Keith’s eye as he spun across the little dance circle, shooting him a wink. He watched Keith trip over himself into Lotor, apologizing. And he felt so, so happy knowing that he had _time_ with Keith, and time with everyone. That their future was there and waiting. And that he was going to be a _Blade Member_ , of all things, and Keith’s right hand again. And that even if sometimes he couldn’t see as much of his friends and family as he liked, he knew that thanks to Allura, he’d have next year. 

And the year after that. 

And even though they would grow and change, it would always be like it was. Like making new friends all over again.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading this through, I appreciate it so much! I put a lot of my heart in this, often drawing from real life experiences. This fic was also a massive love letter to Lance, a character that I care about ridiculously deeply (if that wasn’t obvious already). 
> 
> If you enjoyed it, consider [reblogging](https://sir--cumference.tumblr.com/post/183026798299/in-plain-sight-sircumference-voltron) it on tumblr or leaving a comment! I’m also working on another story — a Keith POV involving intersecting alternate realities and a lot of Paul Simon references. Feel free to subscribe to me if you’re into that :)
> 
> [Here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bcSoHoJh0c&index=2&list=PLdb8rQY-r1k5q782NOS8Y7wb_BvABKXsz&t=0s) is a playlist of a few songs from Lance’s dad music dance playlist.
> 
> Special thanks to Zoé, my beta, for reading everything and indulging my constant Klance bullshit. If you're scared to write a fic because you want people to read it, write one for a good friend and the hits won't matter. 
> 
> This is my baby [ tumblr account ](https://sir--cumference.tumblr.com) (made yesterday as of the publication date)
> 
> Thank you for reading :)


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